


The Best/Worst/First Vacation the Agreste Family Has Ever Had

by amsves



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: ADRIEN HAS NEVER GONE ON VACATION IM GOING TO RIOT, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Beach Holidays, Don’t copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fashion & Couture, First Kiss, GRATUITOUS descriptions of clothing and outfits, Happy Ending, Multi, Romantic Fluff, Second Kiss, Vacation, and b) half the cast of this show is in fashion or modeling why don't they change outfits, because a) nathalie is pretty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2020-10-10 06:13:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20523269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves
Summary: See, the thing is: Nathalie is very stressed. That's understandable, right? Her job is pretty crazy. So avacationbusiness trip to a vacation destination? That sounds like the perfect opportunity to relax.Too bad relaxing is never relaxing when you're with the Agrestes.[Complete as of 1/5/2020, backdated to 12/31/2019 because of the way AO3 statistics work]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).

> When I saw that Adrien had never been on a vacation I got so upset!! He doesn't deserve that!! He deserves fun in the sun with his dad and <s>mom</s> dad's assistant!!

“This is not a vacation.”

Nathalie could practically feel the excitement rolling off of Adrien in waves, even despite his father’s statement. And if Nathalie could feel it, Gabriel definitely could. Still, his expression did not change as he delivered the next line in the carefully-crafted proclamation he and Nathalie had come up with earlier. 

“You will be expected to be on your best behavior at all times, acting as befitting the heir to and face of the Gabriel brand. That means no drinking, no partying, no flirting with random women—” 

Even though she had been there when they wrote that part together, Nathalie had to stifle a laugh. Honestly, Adrien? Who could ever see Adrien do any of that?

“—no breaking a law of any kind, and no reckless, stupid, or unflattering behavior in general,” Gabriel finished. “This is a travel event for work. Still, Nathalie and I agreed that it might be beneficial for us to experience a … change of scenery. And, of course, it’s never too early to get people talking about the next new Gabriel line.”

Nathalie grabbed the rolling clothes rack from the corner and pulled it into Adrien’s field of view. Gabriel gestured to it grandly. “These are all prototype pieces from the new vacation and swimwear line I plan to release in time for next summer. Your wardrobe on this trip will consist almost entirely of pieces from this upcoming collection, deviating on occasion only because I have not created an entire wardrobe for you yet. Nathalie and I will also be wearing pieces from the collection whenever possible.”

Gabriel cleared his throat. “Nathalie, if you would cover the travel logistics?”

“Of course, sir.” Nathalie stepped forward, tapping her tabled a few times before rattling off flight numbers, hotel room numbers, addresses, and other minutiae which the younger Agreste was surely tuning out. When she finished, Gabriel nodded once and she stepped back to her usual position, one step behind Mr. Agreste and one step to his right. 

“Do you have any questions, Adrien?” 

“Um, actually I do. Will there be time for me to keep up with schoolwork during this … work event?” he asked shyly. 

Gabriel looked to Nathalie, who nodded. “There will be ample opportunity for academic pursuits,” he answered. 

Adrien smiled. “Then, I guess my only other question is what time are we leaving?”

“Our flight to Kona International Airport is tomorrow at 10am,” Nathalie said in her usual flat tone. “We will be leaving the mansion at 7. Should you require any assistance getting ready, I will be more than happy to help.”

Adrien’s smile got brighter. “Got it. Thanks, guys. This is gonna be fun! Even though I know it’s for work,” he added hastily, seeing his father’s expression. “But spending time together, just the three of us, in Hawaii, that’s gonna rock.”

“I am glad you feel that way,” Gabriel replied, in a manner that implied he was glad as well but unsure how he felt about that. Well, there was plenty of time to work that one out. The important thing was that both the Agrestes were getting out of the house for a few days and going somewhere new.

It would be good for all of them, Nathalie thought, herself included. How often did they vary from their own self-prescribed routines? She herself couldn’t think of the last time she’d done something outside of her work (of either variety). Her sisters had been nagging her for ages to use some of her vacation days she’d saved up, but she hadn’t seen any reason to. Well, maybe this would satisfy them. 

“Let’s all have a successful time promoting the Gabriel brand,” she said blandly, but all three of them knew she was just as excited as they were. 

* * *

Flying wasn’t nearly so stressful when you were travelling like an Agreste. When money could buy any convenience imaginable, from the best overpriced airport food to extra legroom in first class, the hours and hours spent in the air didn’t seem so unbearable. Their first flight landed in Los Angeles, and Nathalie would have loved to take Adrien out to see the sights had they had more than three hours in their layover. Seeing them out the window as they flew out from LAX to KOA would have to suffice for now. 

After wasting nearly a whole day travelling, something not even Gabriel Agreste’s money could circumvent, they arrived at their destination: Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. Adrien’s face had been locked in a permanent smile since they boarded the plane in Paris, and his grin widened as the hotel staff draped lei around his and Nathalie’s necks. Gabriel refused his at first, but after a bit of pushing and pleading, he accepted one as well.

They made their way to the front desk and Nathalie began the check-in process. Adrien, still full of energy, began to look around the lobby at all the beautiful decorations they had on display. 

“Here are your room keys,” the receptionist said in English, handing Nathalie three plastic cards. “And our records indicate that you’ve made a special request for no housekeeping staff or turn-down service?”

_ Housekeeping _ . Nathalie was sure she knew that word in English, but what did it mean in French? Did anyone here speak any French? Nathalie had studied English, but it had never been her best language, and somewhere between Mandarin and Japanese it had gotten lost. She felt her throat closing up.  _ Good going, Nathalie. You got them all the way here, and now you can’t even check in to your hotel _ .

“ _ Personnel de ménage _ ,” Gabriel said lowly in her ear, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

Nathalie flinched from the sudden contact, but thankfully her mental block cleared. “Oh, yes. No one but ourselves should be in our room,” she instructed. “If room service is ordered, we will meet you at the door. No laundry or anything of that sort should be done during our stay. Is this acceptable?”

The receptionist nodded and made a note on her computer. “Sure thing. That won’t be a problem, Mr. and Mrs. Agreste.”

“Oh, I--” Nathalie started, intending to correct her, but Gabriel simply used the hand still on her shoulder to gently push her towards the elevator.

“I’m glad,” he said to the receptionist. “I’m sure that we’ll have a lovely stay. Adrien,” he added, “Come along now. Let’s go get settled before it gets too late.”

_ Too late _ was entirely a matter of personal opinion, as it was already dark outside when they entered their hotel rooms. They had two rooms, with a door between them that could be locked for privacy or unlocked to allow passage between. One of the rooms had two queen beds--for Gabriel and Adrien, they had decided--and the other had one king.

Nathalie passed through the boys’ room and dropped her bags on her floor. For a long moment she stared at the bed, with its crisp white sheets practically begging her to fall into it fully clothed and succumb to sleep. But that was impossible. Gabriel Agreste was counting on her. 

She settled for undoing her usual bun and letting her hair cascade loosely down her back before heading back into their room to help unpack.

Tomorrow would start their three long days of promoting the new Gabriel vacation line.

And having fun too, of course. Maybe. If there was time left over for it. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has his first vacation photoshoot. He also has a request.

When Nathalie’s alarm went off at 5 in the morning, she strongly considered breaking her phone. Visions of her slamming a fist into the screen and smashing it, or throwing it across the room to watch it shatter against the opposite wall, or cleanly snapping it in half, danced across her still-closed eyes. Surely, Paris would not catch fire if she were to allow herself five more minutes of rest.

But she wasn’t in Paris, she realized with a start, and her eyes flew open to gaze at the ceiling of her Hawaii hotel room. It all came flooding back to her at once--the planning, the flights, the check-in mishap.  _ And _ , she thought to herself,  _ we’re modeling the new Gabriel vacation line _ .

That last detail was enough to make her groan out loud and fling an arm over her eyes. She had gotten a good look at some of the current pieces in the women’s collection, and she was not looking forward to wearing them.

The alarm was still going off. It was starting to give her a headache.

Begrudgingly, Nathalie sat up and turned her phone alarm off. She took a deep breath and grabbed her glasses. Once they were situated on her face, she turned towards the sliding glass door that led out to her balcony. She was sure the view would be lovely, but so far she’d never been in their room when it was light outside. She wasn’t sure if they would ever be home when there was still daylight to use.

At long last, Nathalie dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. At least the hotel provided free toiletries. She didn’t feel like unpacking hers.

The hotel toiletries smelled like mango. It was a pleasant change from her usual scent.

* * *

At exactly 6, one hour after her alarm woke her from her slumber, Nathalie knocked on the door connecting her room to Gabriel and Adrien’s.

There was no answer. After several seconds, she knocked again.

Adrien answered the door. His eyes still had visible bags and his hair was a bedhead mess, but least he was dressed in his outfit for the day. It took him a minute to recognize her, but when he did, his whole face lit up. “Nathalie! Good morning. Sorry, we’re still getting ready,” he added with an apologetic look. “The beds were so comfortable, but of course you knew that.”

Nathalie nodded. “I slept quite well myself. Is your father awake?”

“I’m awake,” Gabriel said from his side of the room. He appeared to be reading, or at least staring at, a copy of yesterday’s  _ West Hawaii Today. _ “Though I could use a cup of strong coffee.”

Nathalie nodded again. “I’ve arranged for coffee and breakfast to be present at all of our morning locations during our stay. If the crew followed instructions, it should be as strong as I make it in Paris.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Adrien said as he flopped back onto his bed. 

“Adrien, get up,” Gabriel said sternly. “We have a lot of work to do today.”

“Yes, Father,” Adrien replied as he pushed himself up off the bed. “Nathalie, what time do we have to be there?”

Nathalie glanced at her watch. “Well, the schedule indicates that we should arrive by 6:15, so we should leave the room in six minutes. Will that be a possibility, or should I inform the crew of our late arrival?”

“We can make it,” Gabriel answered, still staring at his newspaper. “Adrien, go brush your teeth. They can do your hair and such there.”

Adrien nodded and retreated to the bathroom. Once they heard the bathroom door click shut, Gabriel tossed the newspaper down on the bed beside him and looked up at Nathalie for a long moment. She suddenly felt very self-conscious. She was wearing his work, after all, which she didn’t do often. What if he hated the way it looked on someone other than a runway model?

“How do you feel?” Gabriel asked, finally breaking the heavy silence.

“Feel, sir?”

“In the dress,” he clarified. “How do you feel wearing it? Ready for vacation?”

Nathalie couldn’t say yes. It was so unlike what she was used to wearing that she would have honestly been more comfortable relaxing in her typical turtleneck and blazer. 

It wasn’t that the dress was particularly immodest; on the contrary, most wouldn’t consider it anything other than a nice dress one might wear to an office job. Its cut was structured to follow the curves of her body without clinging. The bateau neckline was wide but not particularly deep, dipping just low enough to expose her collarbones. The loose sleeves went down to her elbows before ending in a ruffle, and the skirt ended just above her knees. There were no cutouts or transparent panels, or even any lace. If it hadn’t been for the color--a cheery tangerine, with blossoms printed in white and creamsicle--it wouldn’t have been a dress made for vacation at all. 

It might have even been a dress made for Nathalie.

Nathalie realized she hadn’t responded to Gabriel’s question yet. “It’s … nice, sir,” she managed, avoiding eye contact. 

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. “So you hate it.”

Nathalie let her shoulders slump just slightly. “It’s not what I’m used to,” she clarified, “And I’m uncomfortable because of that. But it really is a lovely dress, sir. I’m sure it will sell well.”

Gabriel made a pleased humming sound and produced from one of his suitcases a pair of sandals. They had a slight platform, not more than a half inch, with white blossoms made of thin leather adhered to the straps on top. “I know you usually wear small heels, but these go with the outfit much better. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Nathalie took the sandals from him and tried them on. They fit perfectly. “I do agree, sir.”

“Excellent.” Gabriel finally stood, making his way over to a different suitcase. “I’ve brought jewelry for you as well. Nothing too wild, since I know you’re not that type of woman. But I think you’ll like these pieces just fine.”

The pieces in question were a delicate silver watch, a bangle the same creamsicle shade as the print on her dress, and a silver claw hair clip. 

“You should wear your hair more loosely,” Gabriel instructed, as Nathalie cradled the pieces in her hands. “It fits the relaxed atmosphere much better than the style you always wear. That’s fine for our usual professional environment, but it feels too uptight here.”

Nathalie pulled her hair out of her signature bun before clipping it loosely in the claw clip. She slipped the watch onto her left wrist and the bangle onto her right.

“You look exactly as I hoped you would,” Gabriel said approvingly.

“Is that a compliment?” she asked, and if she her voice was slightly breathy, Gabriel didn’t mention it.

“The highest one I can give,” he affirmed, and Nathalie’s heart made the strange decision to beat faster all of a sudden.

At that moment, Adrien came back from the bathroom. “Wow, Nathalie, you look great!”

“Thank you, Adrien,” she returned, managing somehow to keep her voice from quivering. “You look quite nice as well. You and your father both.”

She meant it. Adrien’s outfit was much more suited to a Hawaiian vacation than her own: a loose, white, short-sleeved button-down, with the breast pocket printed in the same pattern as his shorts, which were also the same pattern as Nathalie’s dress. Gabriel’s ensemble was similar, but more toned-down; where Adrien had the blossom pattern, Gabriel had solid tangerine. They were both wearing tan leather boat shoes and matching silver watches.

Gabriel glanced at his own watch. “Well, it’s time for us to be heading out. Nathalie, is the crew ready for us?”

Nathalie glanced at her tablet. “They should be, sir.”

Gabriel nodded, and the three of them stepped out of the hotel room into the hallway.

* * *

They weren’t going far; the photoshoot was happening on the hotel’s property. Nathalie and Gabriel had picked this place for its stunning views and luxurious accommodations, after all. The sun wasn’t up yet, but it would be by the time the clothes and makeup crew were done with Adrien. The weather was forecasted to be clear and sunny for the morning, with a slight breeze to offset some of the humidity without getting too invasive. If everything went according to schedule, it would be a perfect day.

_ Things don’t happen like that, of course _ , Nathalie thought as Adrien dropped his cup of coffee on his shoes,  _ but it was a nice thought _ .

That incident aside, preparations actually went quite well. Adrien was a model child, in both senses of the word, and he knew how to sit still, be quiet, and let the team work their magic. Nathalie had his suspicions that he was sneaking in a few minutes of sleep while they fussed over him. She couldn’t blame him. She’d never been the type to sleep in, but as a teenager she hadn’t exactly enjoyed getting up at the crack of dawn for school.

Once Adrien was ready to begin, they stepped outside the event space they had rented out and into the open air. True to predictions, the morning was lovely. They weren’t the only ones out enjoying the gorgeous weather, either; several other visitors were lounging on the pool deck, enjoying breakfast at the café, or on their way to the beach. Some of them spared the Agreste crew a few curious looks--camera crews tended to attract attention, after all--but for the most part the other patrons paid them no mind as they got down to business.

Gabriel made his way over to a lounge chair and sat down to watch the shoot. He caught Nathalie’s eye, and patted the chair next to him. She walked over to him cautiously. “Sir?”

“Come, sit with me.”

“Sir, I’m supposed to be overseeing the photoshoot.”

Gabriel waved a hand. “You can see it from here. I know that Adrien and the crew know exactly what they’re doing, so you being ten feet away instead of ten inches isn’t going to cause the whole affair to end in disaster.” Nathalie must have still looked unconvinced, because he patted the adjacent lounge chair again. “As your boss, I ask you to please sit here next to me so we can work. Adrien can handle this.”

And that was the truth. Adrien really could handle shoots all by himself. Nathalie was still there in case complications or questions arose, but Adrien’s expertise was quickly outpacing her own, simply by virtue of him having done them  for so long . She felt some sort of pang in her chest at that realization. Adrien had spent so much of his life in front of the camera, always performing. He deserved the chance to be normal, and going to school was the first step in that. And at several opportunities they had tried to take that away.

_ Everything we do is for his own good _ , Nathalie told herself, and she meant it, but it still didn’t sit quite right.

“Nathalie?” Gabriel said, and she blinked.

“Sir?”

“I asked you a question.”

Nathalie felt a flush rising in her cheeks. She pushed it down. “I’m sorry, sir. Would you mind repeating it?”

Gabriel sighed, and turned to face Adrien, a faint smile on his lips. “I assume you were watching Adrien? It’s really quite impressive what they do. I must admit, I don’t miss all the publicity and press coverage I once had, but I do wish I saw more of Adrien’s work.” He turned back to her. “I asked if you could review Adrien’s schedule for the rest of the day.”

Nathalie glanced down at her tablet. “This shoot is scheduled to last until 10am. He then has two hours to work on schoolwork until lunch, which is served at noon. Once we are finished eating, he is scheduled to have free time to explore the resort until 4pm, when we will return to the crew to get ready for dinner at 7pm. After dinner, depending on the hour, he may have a little time left before bed to do more schoolwork, or he may go straight to bed.” Summary concluded, she glanced back up. “Is this still agreeable?”

“Quite,” Gabriel confirmed, glancing at his phone. “Adrien asked me about something to do this morning, and I wanted to confirm that it would be possible before I agreed.” 

“If you are fine with it, sir, I’ll call and make a reservation for whatever he wants to do,” Nathalie offered, but Gabriel shook his head.

“He wants the three of us to go down to the beach together.”

_ The three of us?  _ That was strange. “And this is something you want as well?” she asked.

“Well, it’s harmless enough. And we did come all the way here,” Gabriel added. “I know this isn’t a vacation, but it wouldn’t hurt to experience the main point of coming to a place like this.”   


“Am I to assume the new Gabriel line includes swimwear, or should I see if the shop has any for us to purchase?”

Gabriel smiled. “Just what kind of designer do you think I am? I’ve got it all covered. There’s really no reason we can’t indulge him, just this once.” He exhaled and glanced back over to his son. “I really do push him quite hard. And he rarely asks for anything. Let’s give him this.”

Nathalie’s protest of  _ I don’t even  _ _ like _ _ the beach _ died in her throat. She simply added a new event to the day’s schedule on her tablet. “Should I reserve a cabana for us?”

“That would be lovely,” Gabriel confirmed. “Now, I have a few different sets of swimwear with me. Help me decide what we wear later today.”

* * *

Lunch was delicious, but Nathalie spent the whole hour staring at the ocean, cursing the fact that she’d even encouraged this trip in the first place. Surely a  _ business  _ trip with  _ the  _ Gabriel Agreste should have been a safe, nonsense-free event, but she’d failed to realize the obvious: Adrien would definitely want to go to the ocean when it was  _ right there _ , and Gabriel loved Adrien enough to terrorize an entire city. Of course they would go.

The hour was upon them. Nathalie was in her hotel room, the offensive pieces of clothing laid out on the bed before her, mocking her.  _ Are you ready to get covered in sand? Are you ready to feel the stickiness of sunscreen clinging to your skin? Are you ready to get saltwater in your hair? Are you ready to step on a sharp shell and cut your foot and need medical attention? Are you ready for Adrien to ask you to go swimming in the ocean where all the animals are? _

_ Get a grip, _ Nathalie telepathically communicated to the clothes, before rolling her shoulders back and getting to it.

The swimsuit, just like the dress, wasn’t honestly that bad. It was a light teal one-piece, with a halter neckline and no cutouts or anything silly like that. Gabriel had designed a cover-up to go with it, a gauzy kimono-style garment in a darker shade of the same teal, with the same white blossoms from earlier printed on it. That seemed to be a unifying theme in these preliminary pieces, she noticed. Flip-flops the same pattern as the cover-up and a wide-brimmed straw hat with a ribbon the same shade as the swimsuit completed the look. 

Nathalie gave herself a once-over in the full-length mirror. Twice in the same day, she was wearing clothes so completely unlike her, designed by her boss for women around the world. And twice in the same day, even though she felt strange stepping so far outside her comfort zone, she had to concede that they were quite well-designed and attractive.

_ No sense waiting around any longer _ , she said to herself, and she knocked on the door to Adrien and Gabriel’s room. 

Gabriel opened it this time. His swim trunks were the same color as Nathalie’s suit, and his rash guard was the same darker teal. “You look quite nice,” he said.

“I could say the same about you, sir,” she returned, and stepped through the doorway. “Is it time to head down?” 

Adrien, who had been resting on his bed, practically flung himself off of it. “Yes! I am so ready.” His suit was the same print as Nathalie’s cover-up, and his rash guard the same color as her suit. Both he and his father were wearing slides in the dark teal shade. “I’ve been waiting for this ever since you told me we were coming here.”

“So, for two days,” Gabriel clarified, and Adrien nodded.

“I’m honestly a little surprised that you both agreed,” he continued, “But I’m glad you did. Obviously. I can’t wait to … hmm.” he trailed off. “What do people usually do at the beach, anyways? I’ve got a few ideas, but I’m not sure.”

“I’m not much of a beach-goer myself,” Nathalie admitted.

“Perhaps we should look it up on the way down there,” Gabriel suggested as they headed out the door and to the elevator. “Or maybe we should allow ourselves to live in the moment and decide once we get down there.”

“I can think of a few things,” Adrien said. “We can start with a walk, just to get a feel for things, see if the water is cold or warm, stuff like that. Then we can go swimming if it’s nice, and then we can make a sandcastle with this stuff I bought from the hotel store.” He reached into his beach bag and held up a bucket and three miniature shovels.

“When did you get that?” Gabriel asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

“After lunch! So we can use this to build a really awesome castle, and then maybe we can play with this beachball if it’s not too windy.” He put the sandcastle supplies away and retrieved a flattened plastic beach ball. “‘Course, we have to blow it up first, which could take a while if we’re tired, so maybe we should do that first. Finally, we’re probably going to be pretty tired after all that, so I grabbed the hotel towels so we can relax in the sun and chill out.”

“You sure have a full itinerary there, Adrien,” Gabriel commented. “We only have so long until we must be getting ready for dinner.”

Adrien drooped ever so slightly. “Yeah, I know. But they’re just suggestions. We can do whatever. I’m just happy to spend time together.”

The elevator opened into the lobby. Adrien practically burst out of it and was out the door before Nathalie could tell him to slow down. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for all the support on this fic! Next chapter is "fun" beach time with the Agrestes!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's go to the beach beach ... Ninki Minjaj

The salty ocean breeze. The sand between her toes. The sun shining bright in the clear blue sky.

Nathalie hated all of it.

She was an indoor person, through and through. The urge to go hiking in the mountains or swimming in the ocean had never moved her, and she was fine with that. Even exercise was preferably done inside--Nathalie would never swim laps in an outdoor pool or go jogging in a park when an indoor track was available. Above all, she hated being sweaty and dirty. Which was, apparently, what the beach was all about. 

Blessedly, there had been a few cabanas still available for the day. Nathalie had booked one immediately, though there weren’t two adjacent cabanas unfortunately. One cabana was a bit small for three people, but they would manage. She had a feeling Adrien would spend all his time in the sun, anyway. Hopefully Gabriel would get roped into spending quality time with his son for once, and they would leave her behind in the shade to work.

That wasn’t a very likely possibility, she knew, but wouldn’t it be nice? She loved them both, she really did. But this was pushing it.

They made their way to their cabana and rolled out two of the hotel’s orange towels on the lounge chairs. Thankfully, Nathalie had applied sunscreen already; just by virtue of being outside, she could feel grains of sand beginning to stick to her skin, and the idea of smearing sunscreen over them sent shivers down her spine. 

Adrien dropped his bag on one of the chairs and kicked off his shoes. “Let’s go for a walk first! Just to get a feel for things.” 

Gabriel deposited his things as well and followed Adrien towards the water. He tossed a glance over his shoulder at Nathalie, who was hovering in the cabana still. “Coming?”

She sighed. “Be right there.” She took a moment to hide their phones and tablets at the bottom of one of their bags--the boys had foolishly left them sitting out on the towels, and Nathalie knew that that was just asking for them to get stolen--before removing her shoes and setting a tentative foot down into the white sand.

It was sandy. But at least it was dry, and not too hot, and not full of sharp shell bits. She placed her other foot down and took a minute to adjust to the shifting floor underneath her feet before following the boys down to the ocean.

Adrien had wanted to start with a walk along the edge of the ocean, just at the point where the water lapped at one’s ankles, to see if it was too cold to go for a swim. Unfortunately, the water was the perfect temperature. It wasn’t hot by any means, but just sun-warmed enough to take the chill off and make a swim refreshing rather than repellant. 

They ambled along for a few minutes, Adrien chatting animatedly about all the sights, sounds, and smells, while Gabriel nodded along and Nathalie worked mostly on not looking outright disgusted by their current circumstances. When they reached the end of the resort beach and turned back, Adrien glanced at her. “Nathalie? Are you okay?”

“Of course, Adrien. Why do you ask?”

“You look like you’re concentrating really hard,” he observed. “What are you thinking about?”

She obviously wasn’t going to tell him the truth. “I’m just … running over the rest of our trip schedule in my head,” she lied. 

“You should try to relax more,” Gabriel said neutrally, but Nathalie knew she saw a devilish glimmer in his eye. “Enjoy yourself. You haven’t been to the beach in ages, right?”

Nathalie wasn’t exactly mourning that fact, either. “It has been quite a while,” she confirmed. “I think the last time I went to a beach was … it must have been back when the four of us went to Etretat, when Adrien was eight.”

“I remember that!” Adrien shouted, and a few other beachgoers turned their way. “I mean, I think I remember going there,” he amended in a softer tone. “That was only a day trip, wasn’t it?” Gabriel nodded. “But I still had a lot of fun. I was glad Mom’s movie brought her out there. But I don’t remember you being there, Nathalie,” he concluded sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“It’s quite alright. I was in the background much of the time. I don’t even think I made it to the sand.” She had been quite fine with that, observing the three of them from the boardwalk or from the hotel balcony or from whatever vantage point she was given. “And you were quite young. You had tunnel vision for the ocean.”

“Guess not much has changed,” Gabriel commented, and Adrien let out a little laugh. 

“Well, can you blame me? I mean, look at it!” He turned to face the ocean and smiled, before throwing his head back and taking a deep sniff of the ocean air. “Man was made for love and the ocean.”

“You’d think we’d be able to drink it, if that were the case,” Gabriel quipped dryly, and then they were back at their starting point. “Well, Adrien, we’ve gone on our walk. What comes next?”

Adrien hmmed, most likely reviewing his mental list. “I think we should make our sandcastle next. Then, when we get too hot we can jump in the ocean to cool off!” He darted into the cabana to grab the construction supplies before finding a good flat patch of beach to build on. “I’m picturing at least three towers, with connecting bridges between them and a moat all the way around. And then, once we’re done with that, we have to decorate it!” 

Gabriel lowered himself onto the sand next to Adrien. They gazed up at her, and she exhaled once before sinking slowly onto the sand a bit away from them. “So, Adrien, how should we go about building this castle of yours?”

“Well, first of all, it’s yours, too. It’s our castle. The Agreste Mansion 2, or something.” Adrien passed her a shovel. “First, we’re going to need to fill this bucket  _ full  _ of sand and pack it tight. We’ll do that three times or maybe more.”

They got to work scooping, narration-- _ do it like so, pack it down tight, get that shell out of here, use this kind of sand _ \--flowing constantly from the youngest Agreste. It wasn’t long until they had not three but five towers constructed, four forming a square with a fifth in the middle. The connecting bridges were a bit harder to shape, since they didn’t have a bucket mold for those, but eventually they looked mildly respectable. The moat was the last and most labor-intensive part. All three of them got on their knees--for more ease of movement than a cross-legged position--and scooped until water welled up beneath them. 

The castle took nearly an hour to complete to Adrien’s satisfaction, but eventually it was done, and quite nicely so. Shells had been placed at regular intervals in the tower sides to mimic windows, and leaves had been stuck out of the tops to act as castle flags. Lines had been scored into the bridges to give the illusion of arrow slits and stone bricks. It was no masterpiece, not worthy of a blue ribbon or gold medal or any kind of award, but Nathalie felt a kind of satisfaction all the same. 

_ Look at us, acting like normal people for once _ , she thought with a smile.  _ I was beginning to wonder if we were too weird of a family to achieve that _ .

Another thought took over.  _ Family? Are we one of those? _

She mulled it over. Logically, of course they weren’t. Gabriel and Adrien were the family, while she was an outsider. She was a personal assistant, not a flesh-and-blood relative. They had each other, and they had Emilie once. And, hopefully, they would have her once more. They didn’t need an employee intruding on their family unit.

Maybe, one day, she would be family, though. If they failed, and Emilie didn’t come back, or if she did but she didn’t want to be around Gabriel after all he’d done, then maybe …

That train of thought was going to a dangerous and unsavory place. Nathalie put a stop to it there, coming back to reality just in time to see a huge wave crash over their castle. 

Adrien’s heartbreak was palpable. His shoulders slumped forward, and his previously overjoyed expression turned bittersweet. “I was going to take a picture of it and send it to my friends,” he said, voice wobbly. “Oh well.” He glanced between Gabriel and Nathalie. “Neither of you took one, did you?”

Nathalie’s heart was cracking. He was clearly so disappointed, all his hard work down the drain faster than they could even appreciate it. She took a step forward, placing what she hoped was a comforting hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “Adrien--”

“It shouldn’t be that hard to clean it up,” Gabriel interrupted, getting back down on the sand. “Most of the structure is still there. We’ll just need to redo the detailing and strengthen a bit of the support.”

Adrien flopped down next to his father, smile wide once more, though Nathalie thought she could spot unshed tears in the corners of his eyes. “Yeah, you’re right! Thanks, Dad.” 

Nathalie left them to it and ran to get a camera so they could take a picture this time.

It took her a few minutes, between wiping all the sand off her hands and finding a device that wasn’t overheating, and when she returned it was almost done. She snapped a picture of them, hard at work, Adrien’s brow furrowed in concentration, Gabriel’s posture indicating his immense care and precision despite his face being turned away. When they turned towards her a moment later, castle successfully restored, she caught another picture of them, this time with Adrien beaming at the camera and even Gabriel cracking a soft smile. 

She took a moment to forward that one to Adrien. “There. Now you can show your school friends your hard work.”

“You should be in the picture, too!” Adrien protested. “You worked on it with us.”

“I don’t think--” she started, before Gabriel silenced her with a tap on her wrist.

“Come on, Nathalie. He’s right, you know.” Gabriel wrapped his fingers around the same spot on her wrist and tugged her gently down. “We never took many pictures as a family when Emilie was still here, as I’m sure you know. I’m afraid he’s going a little photo-crazy, but it’s better to have too many photos than too few, right?”

Nathalie didn’t have anything to say to that. She took her seat next to Gabriel on the sand, behind the castle. Adrien grabbed her phone from her before moving to the side, arm extended for a selfie. “Smile, everyone! Oh, actually! Say, ‘beach!’”

“Beach,” Nathalie said flatly as Adrien snapped the picture. 

He inspected it for a moment, before shaking his head. “Let’s do that again. Nathalie, please smile? I know you don’t like the beach--I figured it out, Dad didn’t tell me,” he added hastily when she moved to protest, “but please? For me?”

“Think of the thing that makes you happiest,” Gabriel advised, and Nathalie suppressed a comment about happiness and Hawkmoth himself. Instead, she closed her eyes for a moment and reached far, far back in her memory. It would have been easy to cling to a more recent memory, like Gabriel’s grateful smile after her debut as Mayura, but all her recent happy memories were tinged with a sense of doubt or foreboding. No, for the kind of happiness Gabriel was talking about, she would have to go further.

It helped that they had been talking about it earlier. Adrien might not remember, but Nathalie had indeed been on that day trip to Etretat, about six years ago. She had even joined them on a walk along the beach towards the end, while Emilie had been busy with movie stuff. Adrien had been walking between herself and Gabriel, each of them holding one of his hands, swinging him every couple of steps. He had been heavy by then, being eight years old, and he was definitely a little too tall, but he had been laughing so loudly Nathalie thought Paris might have heard them. Towards the end, Adrien had gotten too tired to walk, and Nathalie had given him a piggyback ride the rest of the way back to the car. He had fallen asleep with his head on her lap on the ride home. 

It was a little sad that that was her last genuinely joyful memory, but it was fine, really. Nathalie wasn’t the kind of person to deserve those types of moments too often. With the life she was living and work she was doing, she scarcely deserved them at all. That didn’t mean she was less grateful for them, though; she treasured them all the more because of their rarity. 

She opened her eyes, and Adrien snapped another picture. “Thank you, Nathalie, Father. I’m going to upload this one to Instagram, okay?”

Nathalie was a little less than comfortable with that, but Gabriel nodded. “It’s good publicity. Good idea, Adrien.”

Adrien smiled a little wider (did his cheeks hurt from smiling all the time?) and sent it off. “What were you thinking about, Nathalie?” he asked casually. “I’ve never seen you smile like that.”

Nathalie wasn’t sure she wanted to know what she looked like in that picture. There was a reason she always wore a neutral face or, occasionally, a soft smile, and that reason was that she looked a little off her rocker when she was smiling too wide. To answer Adrien’s question, she simply shook her head. “It’s a secret for now, Adrien.” At his disappointed sigh, she added, “Maybe I’ll tell you later. Something to look forward to when we’re back in Paris, okay?”

He shrugged, but at least he didn’t look quite so disappointed anymore. “Okay. Are you guys ready to go swimming now?” 

Nathalie glanced at her watch. There was still just over an hour left before they had to head back to their hotel room, but she was honestly pretty exhausted, not to mention she still really,  _ really  _ didn’t like the ocean. “You two have fun. I’m going to sit in the shade for a while.”

“Can you not swim?” Gabriel asked, and Nathalie shook her head.

“I can. I just think I feel a sunburn coming on, that’s all.” She took her phone--now covered in sand--back from Adrien and set an alarm for 4pm before waving at the two Agrestes. “I’ll come get you when it’s time to go back upstairs.”

She collapsed onto her lounge chair and nearly cried with relief. The bright sun, the hot air, the sand, it had all been getting just slightly too much. Her skin definitely felt hot to the touch, though she wasn’t sure whether it was from too much sun or just from the day’s temperature. She took a long drink from a bottle of water she’d brought and cleaned her hands, and then got out her tablet to respond to some emails. 

She made it through one and a half replies before falling asleep, and the alarm had been going off for three minutes before she woke up and called the boys back in to get ready for dinner.

She wasn’t sure, but she thought she might have been dreaming about Etratet. 

* * *

Gabriel had arranged for them to have dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. They were to be seated at exactly 7pm, so after making their way up to their hotel rooms by 4:30 they had a little over 2 hours to shower, change, and get otherwise ready. 

Nathalie couldn’t remember the last time she enjoyed showering as much as she did now. Being at the beach with Adrien and Gabriel had actually been kind of fun, despite the environment’s best efforts to ruin her day, but she was relieved to rinse off the sweat, salt, sunscreen, and sand that clung to her skin and soaked into her hair. She used the hotel’s toiletries again; the mango was a pleasant afternoon scent. 

She  _ never _ had this much time to herself. There were always other demands on her time, most often Mr. Agreste and/or Adrien, but occasionally errands, family matters, or other miscellaneous inconveniences. To have two hours dedicated to nothing other than herself was daunting. Nathalie decided it was time to pull out all the stops. She washed and conditioned her hair, shaved her legs even though it had only been two days since the last time, and spent longer than strictly necessary scraping the dead skin off her feet with a pumice stone. She was in the shower so long she lost track of time entirely. After rinsing off the last of the soap, she stepped out into her bedroom and checked the time. 

It was only 5pm. 

Nathalie felt a wave of annoyance. Really, how else was she supposed to kill time? She couldn’t just get dressed now; not only would she be uncomfortable just sitting around in such formal attire, she would get her dress wrinkly. Reluctantly, she re-entered the bathroom and started to run a bath. Maybe she could spend some time relaxing and doing some light reading?

She was in the bathtub for all of ten minutes before she drained it and rinsed off in disgust. What was the point of baths, anyways? Once the water cooled off, which happened almost immediately, you were just sitting in your own lukewarm dirty water. That certainly wasn’t very relaxing. She couldn’t read on her tablet in the bath because the water on her fingertips made it impossible to swipe or scroll, and she was nervous about it getting too wet, anyways. Paper reading materials were also susceptible to ruin via water. Nathalie knew that some people liked a glass of wine in the bath with them, but she couldn’t very well drink now. She was still working, for one thing, and she didn’t have any wine available to her unless she got up and went back into her bedroom and ordered room service. Would they even deliver wine? She wasn’t sure, and she didn’t care. She wasn’t really a drinker, anyways; she could count on one hand the number of times she had consumed alcohol in the past year. 

She blow-dried her hair and wrapped herself in the hotel’s plush robe before going out to her balcony. As she’d thought, it was a beautiful view of the ocean. Too bad she was feeling too restless to sit and enjoy it.

She walked back inside and flopped down on her bed. She glanced to the side to see the time. 5:23 pm. 

_ Ugh _ .

She may as well start getting ready. Something would probably go wrong, and she’d be glad for the extra time. 

Nathale stayed in the robe for the time being but moved from her bed to the desk, applying her makeup not in her usual style but in a way more suited for evening. Doing her makeup was always difficult for her; in addition to not being very fond of experimenting with it, she also couldn’t see what it looked like in the process of applying it. And there was always the very real chance that the finished look would sit fine on a face without glasses but wouldn’t look right once she put them on. Nathalie was well-versed in these setbacks and disappointments, and she had developed a consistent style that she knew she could wear well and could apply in her sleep. This was absolutely not that.

Her primer, foundation, and concealer stayed the same, but she swapped the blue eyeshadow for a sheer pinkish gold, and gave herself just a slight pinkish highlight on her cheekbones as well. On her lips she swiped a vivid red liquid lipstick, taking care to color inside the lines. Once she was satisfied that the color combination wasn’t clashing or overwhelming, she finished off her eyes with small, razor-sharp winged eyeliner and just enough mascara to lift and separate her eyelashes without getting all over the lenses of her glasses. Finally done with her makeup, she sat back in the desk chair and investigated her face from every angle.

…

She liked it.

It was almost embarrassing, really, and she wasn’t sure why. But the longer she stared at her reflection, the more she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and her throat closing up. She could already feel people staring at her, wondering just who this woman was who dared to sit with the top fashion designer in Europe and France’s rising superstar.  _ Don’t look at me _ , she wanted to scream,  _ I’m just the assistant.  _

She had never wanted to be the one in the limelight. She was content with a position in the background, one the public never even knew existed or, if they did, forgot about immediately. She worked well with parts, not people, keeping things running behind the scenes. She was a wizard at sorting papers and making coffee, and she could handle setting up appointments and taking phone calls, but being at the center of attention was a nightmare in the making.

It had been like a dream, applying to work for someone like Gabriel Agreste and actually getting the job. He rarely left his house, content to let Emilie make the public appearances and kiss the babies and do all the celebrity stuff. He was a quiet, introverted man, who just wanted someone to take the burden off his shoulders and keep things moving. He’d called her a kindred spirit during her interview, and she hadn’t even made it home to her apartment before getting a phone call offering her the position effective tomorrow morning. She never could have guessed what all it entailed, even besides all the supervillain stuff, and even though she knew it was the perfect position for her, she never could have guessed how much she would grow to love it, either.

There was just one aspect she did not love, and that was the cameras. When Emilie had fallen into her coma, Adrien had needed an escort when he went out in the world. Usually she was in the background of paparazzi shots or even obscured entirely by another person, and that alone had been enough to irk her. Tonight, sitting at the dinner table with two of the most famous men in France, one of whom was famous for never leaving his house, she would be extremely visible. And visibility was dangerous. Visibility, to people, was an open invitation to talk.

_ Better give them something worth talking about, then,  _ she thought to herself, and rolled her shoulders back, stood up from the desk, and walked over to where her clothes were hanging. 

Nathalie eyed the article of clothing, a bright splash of color against the white door it hung on. It was 6:02pm. She may as well just get dressed and start getting used to it. 

After slipping on the appropriate undergarments, she slipped the dress over her head and stood in it for a moment, becoming keenly aware of everywhere the fabric fell and, more importantly, everywhere it  _ didn’t _ . The dress was bright red, with a skirt constructed of a light, sheer layer which fell to the floor with an opaque skirt underneath. That much was fine, save for the slit in the bottom layer that went halfway up her thigh. Thankfully the top tulle layer had no such slit, so she had some coverage, but it was still a lot of skin for someone like her to be showing. She was too old to wear something like this. She was almost 30, for god’s sake.

_ Almost 30, huh? _ That was strange. She didn’t  _ feel  _ 30\. But she had been working for the Agrestes for 7 years now, and she had started when she was 22, fresh out of college and looking for direction in life, and Adrien was 7 at that time, so it made sense, mathematically.  _ Almost 30, and what do you have to show for it? You have no significant other, no friends, and you’ve never really had either of those, either. You see your sisters once a year and don’t really want to see them more often, you work 364 days a year, you’re on your first vacation in years and it’s with your  _ _ boss _ _ , and speaking of your boss, you’re in love with him even though he’s married  _ _ and _ _ he’s a supervillain who’s been terrorizing Paris in order to get his wife back!  _

That was a bad rabbit hole to fall down, especially at a time like this. She focused her attention back on the dress. The skirt had been scandalous enough for her, but the top was honestly worse. The back was almost entirely open, save for two thin criss-crossing straps. The front was also far too open for her tastes, with a v-neck going a little too far for her liking. On a supermodel, this dress would be a knockout. On her? She looked like she’d been playing dress-up in her older sister’s closet. 

Gabriel expected her to wear this? He had another thing coming. Nathalie could feel the anger and embarrassment rising in her chest. She hoped he could feel it through the wall.  _ I’d make a fine akuma right about now. Call me Seeing Red _ .

She took a deep breath to try and force herself to calm down. Getting upset would help nothing and hurt everything. She grabbed her shoes and sat down on the desk chair to put them on. They were silver, strappy heels, much higher than she usually wore to work and much, much shinier. Nathalie hazarded a guess that when she went into Gabriel and Adrien’s room, her accessories would be silver as well. 

Should she leave her hair down, or attempt some kind of updo? The back of this dress was obviously meant to be shown off, but her hair wasn’t that long. Gabriel would know. 

She checked the time. 6:30. She could kill a few more minutes and then head over, or she could go over now.

Nathalie was never very good at waiting around. She took another deep breath, checked her lipstick in the mirror, and knocked.

Gabriel opened the door and Nathalie sucked in a breath. Of course they would be matching. They’d spent the entire day wearing matching outfits, and red had always been Gabriel’s color anyways. He wore it constantly. But it was still striking on him. Gone was his usual cream blazer and striped tie; his blazer had been swapped out for a dark gray one, and he was wearing no tie at all. The top button of his red (the same red) button-down was undone. To keep in line with his aesthetic, his pants were white and his shoes and belt gray. He looked fresh off the runway, and yet here he was, going to dinner with his son and his personal assistant.

Nathalie watched as his eyes glided along every inch of her body from toe to head, feeling very much like a diamond being appraised. Finally, he spoke. “You look very nice.”

Was it her imagination, or was his voice slightly husky, a bit rougher in quality than usual? “So do you,” she replied, and stepped more fully into their room. “How do you want me to wear my hair?”

“Down is fine,” he said, walking towards the suitcase from which he’d procured her accessories earlier. This time, too, he reached into the bag and pulled from it a necklace, a headband, and a bangle, all silver. “Come over here.”

Nathalie did. By Gabriel’s instruction, she turned away from him, and he smoothed her hair to his liking before placing the headband daintily on top. It was heavy, but not in a bad way.  _ Weighty _ might be a more accurate way to describe the feeling. She glanced in the mirror on the opposite wall. The headband looked much like circlet of vines woven into a crown for her head. 

Gabriel clasped the necklace--a choker, really, now that it was on--around her neck, and slipped the bracelet onto her right wrist. “How do you feel?” he asked, and she had a flicker of a memory from that morning. She’d been so upset by that dress that was leaps and bounds more practical and modest than this one. How foolish she’d been.

“To be honest with you, sir,” she said softly, eyes cast down at where her left hand was playing with the bracelet, “I feel terribly exposed."

“What’s so wrong about that?” he murmured, still fixing her hair. “You are showing off my creations. You shine, Nathalie, and it’s not entirely due to my work.”

“Sir?”

“The clothes you wear alter and hone your outward appearance,” he explained, “But they cannot give someone a presence or quality that is simply not there. You feel like everyone will be watching you, yes?” Nathalie nodded. “They were always meant to do that. I’ve just finally given them a reason.”

“If it’s all the same to you, sir, I’d like very much for you to give that reason back.”

Gabriel removed his hands from her hair, and she turned back to face him. “Don’t say such things,” he admonished. “This trip is for publicity for my new line, after all. I want people to look at us and be filled with envy. I want them to rush to the stores to buy what we wear. People will do that only if they see you. If you cannot feel comfortable doing this as a person, do it as an employee. This is your job, to help me. Isn’t that right?” He lifted the corners of his lips in a tiny, smug smile.

Nathalie exhaled, and matched his smirk. She nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Thank you. Now, do try not to move your head too quickly tonight. It’s going to move your headpiece around, and I want it just so.” Gabriel took a step closer to her and Nathalie held her breath. They were practically toe to toe.

Adrien made his appearance, and Nathalie took a swift step back from his father. The younger Agreste was wearing what was basically a smaller version of his father’s outfit, though he had his blazer draped over one arm and his pants cuffed. “Hey, Nathalie! Wow, red is really your color. You’re, like, actually stunning.”

“Thank you,” she said, and it came out more clipped than intended. She saw Adrien flinch only ever so slightly. “I mean it. You look nice as well.” She consulted the clock on Gabriel’s bedside table. “It’s only 6:40, which is a bit earlier than I meant for us to leave, but if you both are ready--”

“One moment,” Gabriel interrupted. “I’m testing a prototype of a cologne. Adrien and I will be wearing it. Come here, Adrien.”

Adrien stepped forward obediently, and Gabriel put just a small spritz on both of Adrien’s wrists and on both sides of his neck. He then repeated the process on himself. The scent was making Nathalie’s head spin. It was citrus, and cinnamon, and leather, and wood shavings all in one, and it smelled  _ heavenly _ . And there was a lot of it in the air around her.

“Nathalie?” Gabriel said, concern clear in his voice. He took a step closer to her. Nathalie vaguely wondered if he was afraid she was going to collapse, like she was prone to do after de-transforming. “Are you quite alright?”

“I need some fresh air,” she muttered, and Adrien rushed towards the balcony to open the door. Immediately, a sea breeze swept through the room, catching Nathalie and Adrien’s hair and messing it all up. It lifted the tulle overskirt of her dress as well, and Nathalie hoped that she would never wear it when it was actually windy outside.

“Does that help?” Adrien asked, and he sounded so scared that Nathalie felt immense guilt.  _ You’ve worried Adrien. He doesn’t need that. You should be worrying about  _ _ him _ _ , not the other way around _ . 

She nodded once--her hair was all messed up, anyways--and sank onto one of the beds. She was pretty sure it was Gabriel’s, but that didn’t really matter. “It helps a lot. Thank you, Adrien.”

“So the cologne is a failure,” Gabriel mused, and Nathalie’s hand shot out to grab his sleeve before he could walk away.

“No!” she yelped, and he looked at her like she was crazy.

“Any cologne that makes my assistant nearly faint does not sound like a cologne I want to market.”

_ This is so embarrassing _ , she thought to herself. Out loud, she admitted, “It smelled really good. Really, sir. There was just a lot around me, and it’s very intense. I would bet that a lot of women love it when guys wear it.” Gabriel looked unconvinced, so she pressed, “I really do like it, and I really think you should sell it.”

“I’ll consider it,” Gabriel said neutrally, placing the cologne bottle on the dresser top. “Are you feeling well enough for dinner?”

Nathalie noticed she was still holding onto his sleeve. She dropped it, and Gabriel extended a hand to help her up. She rose as gracefully as she could manage, putting more weight than she should have on her boss. “I’m feeling better already,” she asserted, and it was mostly true. “Let’s eat.”


	4. Chapter 4

Thankfully, they made their way down to the Manta, the hotel’s restaurant, without any more incidents. They arrived promptly at 7pm and were led to their seats. Their table was round, situated in the middle of the dining room, covered by a deep wine-colored tablecloth. Gabriel pulled Nathalie’s chair out for her. At 7:01, they were asked for their drink orders.

The server glanced to Gabriel first.  


“Two glasses of whichever wine your chef would pair with the Steamed Keahole Lobster, which all three of us will be eating. I’ll also need a Hawaiian Tuna Tataki, for us all to share.”

“Sir, legally, you can only order one drink for yourself at a time,” the server explained, clearly nervous. He looked quite young, Nathalie thought. Was he even old enough to drink what he was serving?

“That’s fine,” Gabriel said dismissively. “One is for me, and one is for Nathalie.”

Nathalie jumped, but didn’t speak. The server read Gabriel’s order back to him before disappearing back towards the kitchen.

“Sir, I really shouldn’t be drinking.”

Gabriel waved a hand. “Nonsense. We’re relaxing today. There’s nothing wrong with a glass of wine with dinner, especially not when I’m having one as well.” He glanced at Adrien. “Sorry, son. It would be bad publicity for you to be seen with alcohol.”

“I understand, Father,” Adrien replied, and he didn’t look the least bit upset, Nathalie thought with relief.  


The wine came, along with a glass of water for Adrien. Gabriel swirled his appreciatively in his glass before taking a delicate sip. “Hmm. I do believe this will go quite nicely with the dish I ordered.” He motioned towards Nathalie’s glass. “Try it.”

She did. She wasn’t much for wine, but she could admit this wasn’t a bad one by any standards. Still, it wasn’t her thing. “You did your research on the menu,” she observed instead.

“Wait, that wasn’t you?” Adrien asked, and Nathalie shook her head.

“I set up the reservation and forwarded the menu to your father, but I didn’t plan out our meals or anything.”

Nathalie’s stomach suddenly growled. She flushed, embarrassed.  _ Oops, _ she thought to herself.  _ I think I forgot to eat lunch _ .  


Looking back on her day, that had to be the case. They had had breakfast at Adrien’s photoshoot (was that really only that morning? It felt like so long ago already) and then changed for the beach. Lunch had been on their original day schedule, but with things in motion the way they had been, it had been simply forgotten.

“Is there anything wrong with me with being prepared?” Gabriel asked neutrally, lifting his glass to his lips.

“Not at all, sir,” Nathalie said hastily. “I was just surprised.”

Gabriel swallowed his mouthful of wine before dabbing gently at his lips with his napkin. “I took into account everyone’s allergies and food preferences when making the decision, as well as how messy each dish would be to eat. The last thing we need is food ending up on the tablecloth or on our clothing.”

“Good point, Father,” Adrien remarked, and then the appetizer arrived. He wasted no time taking a big bite. “Mm! I have no idea what this is, but I really like it.”

Nathalie took a bite herself and savored the taste. The tuna was seared quite nicely, and the sauce drizzled over it was a plethora of flavors, all complementary. She was able to pick out the ginger, soy sauce, and citrus, but she was sure there were many more elements to it, all mixed in together for a unique experience.  


The three of them downed their shared appetizer quickly enough. Gabriel eyed Nathalie’s still-almost-full wineglass. “Is the wine not to your liking?”

Nathalie picked up her glass and twirled the stem between her fingers. “Wine in general isn’t much to my liking,” she explained. “It’s not this one specifically.”

Gabriel nodded. “It’s an acquired taste,” he commented.

Nathalie obliged him by taking another sip. She thought she could taste a note or two of citrus in the white wine that was both a little sweet and a little dry, but that could just be the leftover influences of the tataki. “What kind of wine is this?”

“I believe it's Grenache blanc,” Gabriel returned. His glass was already half-empty. “It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed this particular wine, but if I remember correctly it’s from Spain, in the  Rhône wine region. I could be incorrect, though.”

“It’s amazing that you can remember all that,” Adrien commented. “Unless it hasn’t actually been a while.”

Gabriel shot his son a sharp look. “Just what are you implying?”

Adrien raised his hands in innocence. “Nothing at all. I’m just saying, it would be an easy way to impress someone, looking up all these facts before dinner and then pretending this was like, old knowledge. I’m not saying you’re doing that, though.” He leaned back in his chair, taking a long sip of water.

“Sit up,” Gabriel instructed.

“Sir, he didn’t mean--” Nathalie interjected, but Gabriel raised a hand.  


“I’m not upset. It is just uncouth for you to slouch back in your chair like that, when we’re in such an establishment.” Adrien sat up straight. “Thank you, Adrien.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, unsure of what to say to each other, until their main course arrived.  


Nathalie wasn’t a big fan of lobster in her regular life. She wasn’t a big fan of most of the things they were doing or wearing or eating this week in her regular life. The problem with lobster, for her, was that it simply wasn’t worth its hefty price tag. It was fine, and could even be considered good when done correctly, but she would rather eat something less expensive. The Agrestes may be made of money, but she certainly wasn’t. And she wasn’t a frivolous woman, anyway.

Now, with the cost covered by her boss, she was free to enjoy the lobster without that mental constraint. The back of her mind was quiet for once, instead of whispering to her that she was being wasteful or repeating the price over and over. The blessed quiet paired quite well with the wonderful taste. The lobster itself was steamed to perfection, tender without being mushy, and the truffle butter and sauce poured over it added to the taste without overpowering it. Nathalie felt herself smiling as she took bite after bite, enjoying each one more.

She couldn’t finish it all; despite how hungry she had been, they had ordered a lot of food. At home she would have asked for a take-out container so as not to be wasteful, but Adrien was eyeing her leftovers in a way he thought was discreet. She switched their plates with a small smile. “Keep eating.”

He smiled at her. “Thanks, Nathalie!” She exchanged eye contact with Gabriel, who was also finished eating, though he had cleaned his own plate. Adrien polished off the rest of her dish in no time, and then it was time to head out. The bill would be added to their room.

The only thing left on their table was her half-full glass of wine (Gabriel had finished his sometime during the meal). So as not to be wasteful, Nathalie drank the rest before they left the Manta.  


They stepped out into the warm night air. What had been a hot, sunny day had turned into a perfectly pleasant, if a little humid, evening. Adrien turned to Gabriel and Nathalie. “It’s still early enough that I don’t have to go up to the room yet, right?”

Nathalie glanced at her watch. It was only 8:41pm. She and Gabriel glanced at each other, and he nodded.  


“That is correct.”

“Then, can I stay out a little longer? I ran into some other people earlier who said they were going to go to the bocce courts later, and they said I could play, too.”  


_ When did he have time to make new friends today? _ Nathalie wondered.  


Gabriel was clearly wondering the same thing. “Who are these people?” he questioned.

“There’s a mom and dad and their two kids, who are a little older than me but still teenagers,” Adrien explained. “Their names are Clary and Bill and Elizabeth and Chadwick and they’re all really nice and definitely not sketchy or anything. Just a family on vacation.” He looked up at his father in a way that Nathalie thought made him look like a kicked puppy. “Please, Father?”

Gabriel sighed. “You may be in their company for the next hour,” he decided. “I expect you back in the hotel room by 10.”

Adrien threw his arms around his father in a tight hug. After a moment, he did the same to Nathalie. She stumbled backwards just a step, off-kilter with his added weight, already struggling some in such high heels and with alcohol in her system. “Thank you guys! I’ll see you at 10, I promise.” He turned and took a few steps away from them before breaking into a run.  


Gabriel ran a hand through his hair. “How does he do it?”

“Sir?”

“He’s always managed to make friends wherever he goes, despite being so sheltered. I don’t think they just like him for his fame, either. He just naturally clicks with so many people, it’s a wonder.” He glanced at Nathalie. “He gets it from Emilie, I’m sure.”

Nathalie didn’t say anything in reply to that, instead electing to ask, “Should we head back up to our rooms? Or do you have people to meet up with as well?”

Gabriel shuddered. “Retreat sounds fine to me.”

Nathalie giggled just a bit at that. “Let’s go back, then.”

* * *

It didn’t take long at all to get back to their rooms, and Nathalie took a certain kind of pleasure from dropping her dress on the floor and stepping on it on her way to grab her pajamas. She picked it up after and hung it properly, of course, but a little retribution never hurt anyone. Especially not when it was against such an offensive article of clothing.

Gabriel had not designed new pajamas for this trip, but he had a collection of them from a few years back, and Nathalie had been wearing them ever since. She particularly liked this set: a three-piece including a camisole, pajamas, and robe, all deep red silk.  


Putting those on instead of all the ridiculous outfits she’d been made to wear today was a special kind of wonderful. She could feel the stress rolling off her back. She ran a brush through her hair before pinning it back up in the clip from earlier and poking her toes into some slip-on slippers. Perfectly comfortable, she flopped back onto her bed and felt the tension sink out of her muscles and into the plush mattress. She glanced at the time on her phone: 9:04pm.  _ I should stay up until Adrien gets back _ , she thought to herself, struggling to keep her eyes open.  _ In case he’s late, or he gets in trouble, or he needs help … _

She had just about lost the battle when there was a knock on her door. “Come in,” she called groggily. “I left it unlocked.”

Gabriel opened the door. He was in--of course--men’s pajamas in the same color. They hadn’t even coordinated that time! Nathalie had brought her own pajamas from home.  _ What are the odds, honestly.  
_

“I am of the opinion we should both remain awake until Adrien returns,” he stated, and Nathalie sat up.  


“I was just thinking the same thing,” she said, “Though I was about to fall asleep, so clearly it wasn’t working.”

He yawned. “I’m pretty exhausted myself. I did not sleep well last night, and we’ve had a pretty full day. I was thinking that we could possibly stay awake better together than if we were alone in our separate rooms.”

That sounded pretty reasonable, at least on the surface. “What did you have in mind?” Nathalie inquired, and that was how she found herself in Gabriel’s room, watching  _ The Princess Bride _ on the hotel’s movie channel, eating chocolate-covered almonds from the minibar.  


“This movie’s premise is entirely illogical,” Gabriel said for the fifth time in fifteen minutes.

Nathalie ate another almond. “Sir, with all due respect, our lives are pretty illogical. At least this is entertaining.”

“Give me one example of how our lives are as ridiculous as this movie,” Gabriel demanded, and Nathalie quirked an eyebrow.

“Does the name ‘HawkMoth’ ring any bells? The city of Paris, terrified of butterflies that turn people into monsters?”

Gabriel opened his mouth to retort, but no sound came out. He exhaled. “Low blow, Sancoeur.”

“Low, but accurate,” Nathalie replied, popping another almond in her mouth. “Also, these are delicious. Are you sure you don’t want any?”

“Chocolate so late at night is--” Gabriel started, before Nathalie interrupted.

“Ridiculous  _ in daily life _ ,” she emphasized, “But once in a while, I think it’s quite alright. Especially in Hawaii.”

“Even though it’s not a vacation.”

“Even though we’re not on vacation,” Nathalie agreed, before placing a few chocolate almonds in his open palm.  


Gabriel placed one in his mouth. He was silent for a moment, before smiling ever so slightly. “You were right. These are quite good.” He popped another one into his mouth, and Nathalie did the same. “But this movie is still--”

“Ridiculous,” they said in unison, before breaking into laughter.  _ It wasn’t even that funny _ , Nathalie thought, and yet here they were, unable to stop, unable to  _ breathe _ .

“Why are we even laughing?” she gasped once she was able to speak again.

“We sound like Mrs. Bourgeois,” Gabriel responded, also out of breath.  


“Oh my god we  _ do _ ,” Nathalie giggled, and then the raucous laughter was back in full force from both of them. She was crying, she was sure of it.  


After what had to be  _ minutes _ of the most she’d laughed in years, they finally fell silent. Nathalie glanced back at the TV--still playing that movie, though she had no idea what was happening now. Neither of them had seen it before, and they’d been talking through the whole beginning of it, so now they were totally lost. That was fine. They weren’t watching for the content, really, just for something to do.

Nathalie watched for a little while longer, but it was clear that she would have to start over if she wanted to understand the plot. She sighed, and glanced over at Gabriel.

And started to laugh again.

He had fallen asleep in a  _ ridiculous  _ position, mouth open, arms and legs splayed out, beginning to drool onto the pillow under his head. Nathalie contemplated taking a picture to commemorate this moment, before deciding that that was probably going too far. Besides, she needed to wake him up, anyway. They had wanted to stay awake for Adrien, after all.  


“Gabriel,” she said quietly, and then, louder, “Gabriel!”  


Nothing.  


Nathalie grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it.  


No reaction.

She suddenly came to the realization that she was, in fact, holding hands with her boss, and dropped it back down on the mattress.

Still nothing.

Well, he was out for the count, then. Nathalie climbed off the bed quietly, even though she doubted that would be what finally woke him. She tip-toed back to her own room and grabbed her tablet, and then returned to Gabriel and Adrien’s room. She would sit at the desk and do some work that she had missed out on due to her impromptu nap earlier.

Before she sat, she cast one more look at Gabriel, who was still out cold. He had started to snore quietly.  _ Cute _ .

She walked over to him and ran a hand through his hair, lifting it out of his eyes. “Sweet dreams, Gabriel.”

She sat and emailed until she heard the door open quietly. The time was 10:02. She made eye contact with a sheepish Adrien, but instead of calling him out on his tardiness, she simply smiled. “Welcome back. How was bocce?”

“It was so fun--” he started, before noticing his father sleeping. “Is he, like, actually asleep?”

Nathalie nodded. “For the past twenty minutes. We were watching a movie to try and stay awake until you came home, but he didn’t quite make it.”

Adrien laughed lightly. “He looks dumb, sleeping like that. No disrespect or anything, but he’s definitely drooling.” He paused. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him asleep.”

“It’s a sight to see,” she said awkwardly, not sure how else to respond. She cleared her throat. “So anyways, tell me about your night. Quietly, this time.”

“Okay, so none of us actually knew how to play bocce,” Adrien started. “So we had to keep looking up the rules on Clary--that’s the mom’s name--on her phone. We had me and Elizabeth and Chad on one team and Bill and Clary on the other. One time, the ball rolled so far it rolled right out the court and we had to try and find it for like ten minutes …”

Nathalie listened as Adrien recounted his activities, until he was out of breath from talking so fast and clearly trying to blink sleep away. “Why don’t we go to bed,” she suggested gently, before Adrien could go on another tangent. “You can tell your father about it tomorrow over breakfast. Your first photoshoot isn’t until 10:00am, so you can sleep in a little until about 8:00, okay?”

Adrien nodded, and yawned. Nathalie yawned back. “Okay, good idea. I’m officially exhausted.” He flopped onto his bed, still fully clothed. “Something about being on this not-vacation has me drained. I do so much more at home, but this feels like it takes more energy.”

Nathalie didn’t have a response to that observation, so she just extended a hand to help Adrien sit up. “Get into your pajamas quickly and turn the lights out, okay? I won’t tell your father you came home late if the lights go out by,” she checked the time. 10:35. “11pm,” she finished. “That’s fair, right?”

Adrien nodded again, and yawned again. “You’re the best, Nathalie.”

She felt a warmth in her chest that threatened to burn her alive and knew her lips were twitching up into a smile without any action of her own. “I don’t know about that. But thank you.” Without thinking, really, she reached out and ruffled Adrien’s hair. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” he said sleepily as she opened the door to her room.

“Goodnight,” she returned, still smiling. “Sweet dreams.”

Her own night was mostly uneventful, save for a dream fragment that she could still recall when she got up in the middle of the night for some water. There was something about Adrien, she was sure, and Gabriel, and Emilie was there, too? Emilie was on vacation with them, and the three Agrestes were swimming in the ocean, and they were getting farther and farther from shore, and Nathalie kept calling out to them, but they didn’t hear her. She dove into the water to chase them, but she couldn’t see them anymore. She woke up feeling like she was drowning. She drank her glass of water and went back to bed, trying not to focus on her hands shaking.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m posting this from my phone, so if the formatting or anything is janky just drop a comment and I’ll fix it when I have my computer!

Sleeping in until 7am the next day was, in Nathalie’s opinion, more than tolerable. Between the wine and the weird dreams, her sleep had not been of the best quality, so the extra hours of rest were appreciated. Still, she wouldn’t have minded not having the alarm rip her from dreamland at all. Being allowed to sleep in as late as she wanted was a luxury she was rarely afforded.

Recently, though, she had more and more gotten the opportunity to sleep when and as much as she wished. The peacock miraculous demanded it. Gabriel was always accommodating, even when she really didn’t think it was necessary.

But it was too early to be thinking about all that. There was time for that later, but now she had to be getting ready for another day in the life of Nathalie Sancoeur, assistant to  _ the  _ Gabriel Agreste. And Nathalie Sancoeur would start with a shower.

Nathalie decided she was going to take the hotel toiletries home with her when this was all over. 

After an uneventful shower (which was perfect and exactly what she needed, thank you very much), Nathalie got ready to face the day and wear whatever ridiculous things Gabriel had decided she was supposed to show off. Honestly, she wasn’t sure why he wanted her to do this. Subjective perceptions of beauty aside, she was just too old. His designs were meant for young, hot girls aiming for Instagram likes … or whatever. Not her. But she’d been over this mentally several times. Thinking it again wasn’t going to change anything.

The dress she wore was mostly a forest green, with white vines and leaves printed onto the stretchy, breathable fabric. It was a scoop neck and waistless, flowing from the shoulders down to above her knees in a fluid motion. It swung when she walked and twirled when she gave it an experimental spin. It was sleeveless, unfortunately, but overall this one wasn’t so bad: the muted color, modest length, and silhouette not clinging to her body were all good things in her book.

Nathalie did her makeup in a mostly natural look, save for a bit of sparkle in a rosy shade on her eyelids and cheekbones. She dried her hair but left it down instead of twisting it into her signature bun. Gabriel would tell her what to do.

She checked the time. 8am exactly. Gabriel would be expecting her. She rolled her shoulders back, cast one more glance at her reflection in the mirror, and knocked on the door between their rooms.

Gabriel answered, clearly fresh out of the shower. His hair was still damp, droplets still clinging to the ends and dripping down onto his shirt. He held a towel in one hand, presumably being used to dry off this aforementioned wet hair. He ran an appraising eye over her (which, she noticed, she was getting used to) before stepping aside to let her into his and Adrien’s room. “You look nice, as always,” he commented, tone neutral.

“As do you,” she returned, glowing a little inside. “I assume that Adrien will be matching us again?”

Gabriel was wearing a rosy-pink short-sleeve button-down and shorts the same green as Nathalie’s dress. He was still barefoot, she noticed, but she spotted a pair of leather sandals by the door which she assumed would be his for the day. “Of course,” he answered, making his way over to the suitcase that Nathalie now recognized as the home of all their accessories. It was a little strange that she didn’t know where everything was on this trip; usually she was in charge of packing, but Gabriel had insisted on handling all of his prototypes himself, presumably because he didn’t want Nathalie to have any chance to mentally prepare herself. She smiled wryly at that thought.  _ How rude _ . 

“I find it abhorrent when families all wear the same thing on vacation or for pictures,” he continued, oblivious to her mental insult. “It’s embarrassing and tacky. However, wanting to be coordinated is admirable. A family should always present themselves as a cohesive unit.”

Nathalie wisely refrained from any sort of comment on the state of the Agreste ‘unit’, instead following Gabriel over to the bag to retrieve her accessories. He handed her first a watch, both analog face and band a glimmering rose gold. Next came a delicate bracelet, also in rose gold, consisting of a thin strap with a flat plate on which her name was embossed.  _ Nathalie _ , it read in typewriter script, looking hand-done, though she had her doubts. Nevertheless, it was lovely, and hopefully she would be allowed to keep this one. It would make a lovely addition to her daily look. She slipped both watch and bracelet on, one for each wrist.

“I’ll do your necklace,” Gabriel added. He touched Nathalie’s shoulder lightly, and she knew from experience that she was meant to spin around so that her back was to him. He placed around her neck a thin chain in the same shade as the other accessories. A tiny rose pendant dangled upside down, the base of the stem landing right at the collar of her dress. “And, for your hair, I’ll just twist it a bit and clip it with this.”

Nathalie couldn’t see what  _ this  _ was, but she felt her hair being lifted off her back before being pinned to the back of her head. She turned to try and see herself in the mirror. It was hard to tell, but it looked like a rose gold butterfly was alighting in her hair. 

She turned to face Gabriel again, a small smile resting on her lips out of nowhere. He handed her a pair of sandals. The straps were rose gold, of course, and their white soles were at least an inch thick. She slipped them on wordlessly. They fit perfectly.

Adrien poked his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush in hand. His hair was sticking up in every direction, making him look a bit like he had just been electrocuted. “Morning, Nathalie! You look really pretty again today!”

“You as well,” she replied, smile growing a tad wider. “Are you going to fix your hair, or is ‘bedhead’ the look for today?”

“Bedhead is certainly  _ not  _ the look,” Gabriel replied sternly, and Adrien nodded.

“I’ll fix it,” he promised. 

“I can do it while you brush your teeth,” Nathalie offered, feet already moving across the floor. “It’ll save time.”

She ran a brush gently through Adrien’s slightly-damp hair--he must have taken a shower and towelled his hair dry, and then promptly forgotten about it--while he scrubbed his teeth and flossed. When he had already moved on to mouthwash, she found herself working on a particularly difficult snarl. She must have tugged on it a bit too hard, because all of a sudden Adrien lurched forward to spit his mouthwash into the sink, before yelling, “Ow!”

She pulled her hands away from his head. “Sorry. There’s this knot that I can’t get undone.”

He smiled apologetically at her in the mirror. “It’s okay. I know you weren’t trying to hurt me, it was just unexpected. I’m ready now, though, so you can go back to it.”

Nathalie nodded and went back to her work.

Eventually, the Adrien was ready for the finishing touches. Nathalie watched him standing next to his father, getting his watch and shoes for the day, and observed how similar they really did look.  _ Everyone says Adrien looks like Emilie, but he definitely gets some of himself from his father. Their eyes are the same, and their cheekbones … especially in their matching outfits, they look like a family. Or a  _ _ unit, _ _ as Gabriel would say. _

Adrien was wearing a short-sleeve button-down in the same print as Nathalie’s dress, and his shorts matched his father’s shirt. They turned to look at her at the same time, and Nathalie tried not to blush from getting caught staring. She cleared her throat. “Are we ready?”

They were, in fact, ready, and they made their way to breakfast, served at the Copper Bar Café. Gabriel saw fit to allow them all to make their own choices for breakfast, and Nathalie chose a cup of coffee, a slice of banana bread, and a turkey-and-swiss croissant. Gabriel chose similarly, though his croissant had ham instead of turkey, and Adrien ordered two cinnamon rolls and a fruit smoothie. “All that sugar might give you a stomachache,” she commented when their food was served, and Adrien shrugged in response, one of his rolls already in his mouth.

“You and Father both drink coffee, but I have to get my energy from somewhere,” he replied between bites. “It’s not easy being  _ the  _ Adrien Agreste all the time.”

Nathalie felt a pang of sympathy, or maybe guilt. Either way, she ignored it. “Well, someone has to do it,” she said lightly, unlocking her tablet to check the day’s schedule. The time was 9:14, and Adrien’s photoshoot didn’t start until 10. They were doing fine on time. Satisfied, she turned the screen off and took a bite of her croissant. 

It was delicious, as expected, flaky and full and cheesy all at once. The banana bread was similarly delectable. The coffee, however, wasn’t quite as good as her own. Oh, well. Not everything could be perfect, and she was a very picky woman anyways. To everyone else, it was probably fine. 

Nathalie knew Adrien was enjoying his breakfast, if the fact that it was already almost gone was anything to base assumptions off of. A quick glance at Gabriel told her that he was pleased as well, though he was taking his time eating. She returned her attention to her own breakfast and ate at the perfect pace, not too fast that she would choke or generate extra crumbs, but not too slow that she would be dragging the process out unnecessarily. Gabriel informed the waitstaff that the bill should be added to their room, and at 9:30 exactly they left the café, headed to the location of Adrien’s shoot. 

Since his hair was already done and he’d already been fed, the crew had little work to do on Adrien besides light makeup and styling touches. Gabriel found a seat out of the way and, after some less-than-subtle requests to come join him, Nathalie sat next to him, watching Adrien work from a distance, focusing very intently on the photoshoot and not on how close her arm was to Gabriel’s own. Should either of them twitch, sneeze, flinch, or make any sort of movement whatsoever, there was a very good chance their hands or elbows would knock into each other.

“You have something on your mind,” Gabriel stated, and Nathalie jumped. 

Well, that was a true statement, but she wasn’t about to tell him what she had really been thinking about in that moment. Instead, she responded with a question that had been sitting in the back of her brain since they had first checked in. “Why didn’t you correct the concierge when we checked in?”

“Pardon?” 

“When she called me Mrs. Agreste,” Nathalie explained, fighting the blush in her cheeks. “I was about to inform her that we’re not married, but you didn’t give me the chance. I’ve been wondering about it ever since.”

“Oh, that.” Gabriel twisted in his seat a bit to face her more directly. “Nathalie, you are a young, beautiful woman, and you’re on what appears to be an expensive, luxurious vacation with a man who is far older than you. If she hadn’t assumed we were married, what other conclusion would she have likely come to?”

Well, when he put it like that, it was obvious. “Oh.” She cleared her throat. “Thank you, then. I never even thought about that.”

“It would have been disrespectful to you for her to assume that you were accompanying me because of my money, and not because of your tremendous skill. I wanted to prevent that misunderstanding.” Gabriel settled back in his seat.

“But since she assumes we’re married, couldn’t she assume I married you for money?” Nathalie countered. “It’s not a far reach, based on your train of thought.”

“That is true,” Gabriel conceded, “But I hope that the legal and logistical nightmare that is marriage would prevent people from making that assumption lightly. Getting married takes an immense amount of dedication, and I have a healthy amount of respect for anyone who does, no matter the reason.”

“Surely, though, some reasons are better than others.”

“Of course.”

The conversation died there, but that was fine. Nathalie wouldn’t have known how to keep talking anyways.

* * *

Adrien’s photoshoot went wonderfully, almost  _ too  _ wonderfully, and by 12:30 they were having lunch at Number 3, adjacent to the golf course and also, coincidentally, near the bocce courts. Adrien spent the walk to their table excitedly gesturing to them, chattering animatedly. “This is where I was last night with Bill and Clary and Lizzy and Chad! Wow, it looks really different in the daytime.”

“It must have been quite dark last night, since the sun was down,” Nathalie commented, but Adrien shook his head  _ no _ in response.

“Nah, they have lights all around to keep it well lit enough to play. If you lose a ball, though, then it’s pretty dark when you have to look for it.”

The server arrived to take their orders. Gabriel ordered each of them a glass of ice water, and then for himself requested an order of the Grilled Fish Tacos. Adrien ordered the Mehana Fish n Chips, hold the tartar sauce. When their server looked to Nathalie, she cleared her throat and ordered the Poke & Rice, with the spicy poke instead of shoyu. 

“Coming right up, everyone,” their waiter said, and then he was gone. 

Gabriel looked to Nathalie. “Nathalie, would you mind going over the rest of our day?”

Nathalie unlocked her tablet and quickly pulled up the day’s schedule. “We will eat here for lunch, of course, and we have no time frame by which we must be finished. This afternoon, Adrien should be in the resort pool, and the camera crew will be taking candid shots of you swimming or playing in the water.”

“Am I supposed to be there by myself?” Adrien asked, sounding slightly confused. “It’s not going to make for very good photos if I’m playing by myself, and doing laps would only give them so many shots.”

“You raise a good point, Adrien,” Gabriel agreed, and Adrien sat up a little straighter. “I believe it might be prudent for all three of us to get in the pool.”

“Wait, really?” Adrien and Nathalie said in unison. Adrien’s voice was bursting with excitement, while Nathalie’s was full of dread.

“Is there a problem, Nathalie?” Gabriel asked, and Nathalie knew her employer enough to recognize that the correct answer was  _ no _ . “It’s not really any different than what we’ve been doing thus far,” he continued. “Yesterday all three of us wore swimwear from my new line and went out to the beach. People took our picture.  _ We  _ took our picture. Today is no different, really, save for the fact that I except there will be less sand.”

“That’ll be perfect then, won’t it?” Adrien chimed in. “I know you don’t really like the beach, but in the pool you don’t get sandy or step on shells. At least, I  _ hope  _ not,” he amended. 

They were right. Logically, there was no reason for her to be uncomfortable with this new development, given what they’d been doing this whole trip. But that only made sense if she hadn’t already been uncomfortable, and as a matter of fact, she hadn’t felt like herself ever since they got off the plane. Furthermore, there was another slight distinction between yesterday and today. It was the difference between doing something and knowing you might be seen, and doing something  _ specifically _ to be seen. The former was Nathalie’s daily life, working with the Agreste family. But the latter? That was new and unfamiliar terrain, and it was still very hostile.

Nathalie didn’t say any of that. She simply dipped her head in agreement and amended her plans for the day. “As you wish, sir.”

Their lunch came. Nathalie’s poke was spicy, which she had been expecting, but the spice did not overpower the other flavors mixed in, all of which blended together to create a delicious dish. Adrien seemed to be loving his fish and chips, since his lunch was almost gone when Nathalie looked up from her own after only a few bites. Gabriel seemed to be pleased with his as well. 

“Nathalie, can I try what you have?” Adrien asked suddenly, and Nathalie glanced to his father, who nodded. 

“Of course,” she agreed, pushing her disg towards him. “Take a bite, and tell me what you think. It is spicy, so be careful.”

Adrien scooped up a bite that was probably too large and stuffed it in his mouth. He chewed for a few seconds and swallowed, and smiled. “You were right. It is kinda spicy, but it’s really good!”

“I would like to try it as well, if you don’t mind,” Gabriel interjected, and Nathalie blinked. 

“Oh, of course, sir,” she said, and passed her bowl over to him. 

He took a small forkful and chewed it slowly. “I have to agree with Adrien. This is quite good.” He smiled slightly. “You made a good choice.”

Well, it wasn’t like she could have known before she ordered, but Nathalie felt a little warmth in her chest anyways. “Thank you, sir,” she said, and took her bowl back to finish her lunch. It was, as had been stated, good.

They finished their lunch without too much more conversation, all three more invested in eating than talking. Nathalie checked the time as they were leaving the restaurant—1:43pm. They would be back in their rooms by 2. 

In the elevator, Gabriel made an announcement: “I hope that we can all be ready to go downstairs in half an hour. That shouldn’t be a problem, should it?” Both Nathalie and Adrien shook their heads no, and he smiled slightly. The elevator dinged as the doors opened on their floor. “Good. Let’s get dressed.”   
  



	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates might be a bit slow through the rest of October because I am also working on a few one-shots for fictober! But maybe they won't be slow. IDK. Enjoy either way!

Nathalie followed Gabriel and Adrien into their room to pick up whatever she was going to be required to wear to the pool that afternoon. Gabriel handed her the garment bag, and she took it without a word before she disappeared through the connecting door to her own room, shutting it behind her with a bit more force than was strictly necessary. She laid the bag out on her bed and unzipped it slowly, not looking forward to seeing what was inside.

_ It’s … actually not that bad.  _ Nathalie could hardly believe that she was thinking that, but that was honestly the truth. The swimsuit itself was comprised of two pieces, which was usually an automatic  _ no _ , but the top was long, covering her entire midriff and going down below the bottoms, ending with a bit of a skirt for extra coverage. The neckline was higher than she might’ve expected and it had thick straps instead of being strapless, which she appreciated. The whole suit had a vibrant pattern of palm leaves and other tropical plants, but the foliage was red on a deep purple background. If Nathalie’s ideal swimwear look wasn’t “no swimwear at all, because I’m not going swimming or near any body of water”, this might’ve been it. As it stood, if she was going to be forced into something like this, the least Gabriel could do was design her a suit she actually liked, and it looked like he had done just that.

She tried it on and studied her reflection in the mirror. Just that morning, she had been thinking about how she wasn’t the right kind of person to be wearing this Gabriel collection, and how it was all meant for girls who were younger and in better shape and just generally more conventionally attractive. This, however? This was clearly designed for people like her, a little older and less inclined to appear in public only partially clothed. 

_ I’m keeping this _ , she decided.  _ This, and the bracelet _ . It would be good to have a swimsuit she didn’t hate in the back of her closet, just in case she ever needed it. The only one she owned at the present moment was a plain black one-piece in an athletic cut, but this one was way better. 

Gabriel had provided a cover-up as well, so that she didn’t walk around the resort in just her swimsuit. She was honestly baffled by it.  _ Gabriel Agreste, designing and selling oversized T-shirts?  _ The T-shirt in question was lilac, with just ‘Gabriel’ printed on the front in a washed-out version of the red on her swimsuit. The back of the shirt had the brand’s logo printed in that same shade.

Finally dressed, Nathalie braided her hair before twisting it into a bun and securing it as tight as she could. She would prefer not to soak her hair in the pool water, which was sure to be full of chlorine and salt and sunscreen and sweat and whatever else people put in pools. Pools were gross in general. She didn’t need that mystery cocktail ruining her hair in addition to drying out her skin.

She took her time applying a liberal amount of sunscreen. She was going to get a lot more sun today than she was used to, and future Nathalie was not going to thank her for it. 

Slimy and sticky and generally unenthusiastic, Nathalie wiped her hands on her T-shirt before packing a bag for the pool. An old  _ Gabriel  _ promotional tote became the temporary home to her tablet and phone (not that she was going to get any work done, but she could hope), extra sunscreen, sunglasses, a room key, and a towel. Satisfied with her preparations, she took another look around the room to see if there was anything else she would want, but didn’t see anything. She knocked on the door between her room and the boys’ and, upon hearing a command to ‘enter’, she did just that.

Gabriel’s swim trunks were, unsurprisingly, the same lilac as her cover-up, and his rash guard was the same color as the text printed on it. He was holding on to a pair of lilac flip-flops, which Nathalie took and put on as Gabriel did his regular appraisal of her appearance. He must have found it satisfactory, because he simply said, “Do you like it?”

Nathalie could finally answer honestly that she did. “I’m surprised that I do. But I do have to ask, what’s the T-shirt about?” She worried the hem between two of her fingers. “I thought you found them abhorrent and sloppy-looking.”

“They’re certainly not fashionable,” Gabriel agreed, “In my opinion, at least. But recent trends have been challenging that. Girls and young women love them, all of a sudden. I surmised that this was the best way to cater to their desires while still maintaining my integrity as a designer.”

That made sense. “Is Adrien in the bathroom?”

“He is,” Gabriel confirmed. “He’s up to something, but I can’t figure out what.”

“Up to something?” Nathalie parroted, and just then Adrien appeared in front of her.

“Hey, Nathalie! Ready to go?” He was dressed and ready, with a bag on his shoulder as well. His swimsuit matched her own, and his rash guard matched his father’s. He and Gabriel, she noticed, were both wearing dark purple slides as well. 

“I believe so,” she responded warily. “What’s in the bag?”

He winked. “It’s just some basic pool stuff, really. Towels, that sort of thing.”

Nathalie didn’t believe that for a second, and a quick glance in Gabriel’s direction told her that he didn’t either.  _ So this is what he was talking about. Adrien certainly is up to something here _ . She didn’t press him, though. Whatever secret he was hiding would come out in due time. And what kind of secrets could he possibly have, anyway? Nathalie was well-accustomed to secrecy and hidden truths, courtesy of her employer. She doubted Adrien could shock her with whatever he was planning.  _ Maybe he’s going to push me or his father in the pool, and he’s carrying extra towels for us, or something along those lines. I guess I’ll find out when we get down there. _

* * *

Much to her relief, Nathalie’s guess was wrong, and nobody got pushed into the pool. After the three arrived at the pool, they spread their towels out on available lounge chairs and left their belongings there. The pool deck was rough beneath Nathalie’s feet as she walked slowly over to the water. Adrien sprinted past her, throwing caution to the wind, and did a cannon ball as he jumped into the pool.

“Adrien, you should know better than to run at the pool,” Gabriel reprimanded. “If you’re not going to be on your best behavior, we shouldn’t be here at all.”

“I’m sorry, Father,” he said quietly. Drenched as he was, he looked very small from Nathalie’s vantage point on the deck. 

“You won’t do it again, will you?” Nathalie asked, and she felt Gabriel’s glare as a prickle on the back of her neck. Adrien shook his head no, and she looked back to Gabriel. “Then it’s fine, right?”

“Remember that this is all for publicity,” Gabriel answered, which wasn’t a no. “Should people see you behaving immaturely or recklessly, it would reflect badly on your career. Comport yourself.” He sat down on the edge of the pool, dipping his lower legs in. “If you can manage that, everything will be fine. But if you can’t, then we should go.”

“I can manage,” Adrien said with conviction. 

“Good.”

Nathalie reached the pool edge and lowered herself down slowly. She dipped a toe in the water experimentally and flinched. The day was hot, but the water was cool. She lowered her foot back in and waited a minute until she was used to the water temperature, and then placed her other foot in. 

By that time, Gabriel was already in the water with Adrien. They were both watching her, waiting for her to get in. She took a deep breath and braced herself, and pushed herself off the edge and into the water. Thankfully, the water was only about a meter deep, so it looked like her hair wasn’t in danger of getting wet. But it was cold, and she sucked in a breath as it came up to her waist. 

Just as Nathalie got in the water, Adrien swam over to the side and hopped out. “I’ll be right back,” he promised in response to Nathalie’s murderous glance. “I just want to get the beach ball! We didn’t get to use it yesterday at the beach, but we can use it today, right?” He grabbed the fully-inflated beach ball out of his bag. It was clear, but printed with green cat paw prints. 

“So that’s why your bag was so full,” Nathalie observed. 

“I didn’t want to waste time down here inflating it,” he explained, “So I did it after I finished changing my clothes earlier.” He walked back over to the pool before jumping back in. “People are watching, right? Let’s give them something to watch.” He took a few steps back from Gabriel and Nathalie. “Let’s see how long we can keep the ball up in the air before it hits the water!”

He threw the ball up in the air and hit it forward … right into the side of Nathalie’s head.

The ball hit the water. 

Adrien gasped. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t want to hit you!”

Nathalie picked the ball up. “It didn’t hurt. And I know you wouldn’t do that on purpose. I just wasn’t ready.” She glanced at Gabriel; his expression was one of amusement, rather than fury. Relieved, even though it irked her a bit that he found enjoyment in her getting hit in the head, she turned her attention back to Adrien. “Ready?”

“Ready!”

“Well, then,” she said as she tossed the ball up, “Here you go.” 

She hit it forward, and Adrien saved it from hitting the water by tapping it towards his father. They kept the volley going for a few minutes, reaching a high score of sixty consecutive hits. When the ball hit the water after that, Adrien scooped it up and swam towards the pool wall.

“That was a good warmup,” he announced, walking towards their lounge chairs. “But I think it’s time for something else. It is 3:15,” he continued. “What time do we have to head back upstairs to change for dinner?”

“The current schedule says 4:30,” Nathalie informed him, “But that has a bit of flexibility built in. If we’re back upstairs by 5 I think we will be fine.” 

“We’ll leave no later than 4:45,” Gabriel amended. 

Adrien nodded. “So we still have an hour and a half left until it’s time to go. I say it’s time to break out the real surprise.”

“Real surprise?” Gabriel repeated, right before he got a shot of water straight to his mouth.

Adrien was holding a water gun. “Water fight!”

“Do you have three of those, or are your father and I just supposed to take this without fighting back?” Nathalie asked, and Adrien pulled two more water guns out of his bag. He tossed one to Nathalie, and she caught it right before he sprayed her in the ear. 

“Here you go, Father!” Adrien finished, throwing the final water gun in Gabriel’s direction. 

“Are you charging all of this to our room?” Gabriel asked dryly as he held his gun under the water to fill it.

“It’s no different than room service, right?” Adrien countered. Nathalie sprayed him in the chest as he jumped back into the pool. “And they were purchased for promotional purposes. I’m actively making the photos better. You should be thanking me, really.”

“I will not thank my son for spending my money without permission,” Gabriel growled, shooting Adrien in the neck.

“Then you can thank me for the fun you’re having instead!”

“So, are there rules to this water fight,” Nathalie interjected, “Or is the goal just to get other people as wet as possible?”

“Well, generally, I’d prefer it if you and Father started aiming at each other and not just at me,” Adrien returned, and Nathalie narrowly dodged a shot aimed at her shoulder. “It’s not very fun being the one in a two-versus-one.”

“Is that so?” Gabriel murmured. “Then, I’ll join your team for a moment.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Nathalie retorted. 

Adrien smirked. “It’s a taste of your own medicine.”

“Why don’t we team up and get your father, then?” Nathalie aimed at a surprised Gabriel. “He did it, too.”

Adrien aimed at Gabriel as well. “That is true. Ready! Aim! Water!”

Gabriel ducked under the surface of the water to dodge their shots. 

“Is that allowed?” Nathalie questioned, and Adrien shrugged.

“I didn’t say it wasn’t!”

Gabriel resurfaced and shot Nathalie in the chest. 

“Okay, so from my understanding there are no actual rules?” Nathalie asked again, reloading her water gun. 

“Not really!” Adrien confirmed, shooting her in the ear. She shuddered. She could feel it going all the way to her brain. Ew. Gross. 

Gabriel seemed to have decided that the best course of action was to spend as much time underwater as possible. While it was true he was invulnerable to enemy attacks that way, he was also getting about as wet as he could, which in Nathalie’s book couldn’t really be counted as a win, especially since they weren’t keeping score or anything. His strategy was mostly comprised of holding his breath for long periods of time and keeping only the hand holding his water gun above the water, so that he could aim at his son and assistant without letting them get a shot back at him. Of course, that left him vulnerable when he needed air, and that was when Nathalie struck.

When Gabriel next came up for oxygen, Nathalie was ready. She could feel a maniacal smirk on her face as she lined her shot up just right, and shot water up Gabriel’s nose.

He sputtered for a good twenty seconds, trying to get the water out of his nose and regain his breath. Nathalie and Adrien high-fived. Adrien was dying laughing, and even Nathalie found herself giggling a bit.

Gabriel glared at them, and they immediately shut up. Then, he started laughing as well. “You got me good, Nathalie. Well played.”

“Thank you--” she started to say, but it was a trap. Gabriel had been waiting for her to open her mouth so he could send a shot of water straight down her throat.

The taste was indescribably bad. It took all the bad things about pools she had been worried about earlier and multiplied them. She gagged, trying not to swallow the disgusting and probably germ-infested water. Some of it she did manage to spit back out, but the majority travelled down her throat to wherever water went next. 

“I sure hope nobody took a picture of that,” Adrien commented, and Nathalie shuddered. 

“I’m sure that they did, now that you mention it,” she groaned. “Hopefully they were at a bad angle so you can’t see very well, or something of that nature. It would be just my luck that it’s the highest-quality photo of the day, though.”

“One unfortunate photograph that may or may not even exist cannot negate the dozens or hundreds of good ones that people have taken of us in the past few days,” Gabriel said, in what was probably supposed to be a placating manner. It didn’t really help, but the fact that he was trying at all was sweet. Nathalie felt her disgust ebbing. 

“Well, I hope we can all agree that that’s the logical conclusion of the water gun fight,” she segued. “Adrien, do you have anything else planned for us?”

“I could go get the beach ball, and we could play Monkey in the Middle?” he suggested, and Gabriel shrugged. 

“Check the time while you’re over there, son,” he instructed, and Adrien nodded before swimming to the side of the pool with the three water guns. 

While Adrien was on his way to the lounge chair, Gabriel allowed a soft smile to slip through his usual mask. “He gets it from his mother.”

“What, sir?”

“This,” he clarified, gesturing with one hand. “Just, his attitude. His creativity. His spirit. They’re all Emilie’s. You and I are more logical, more orderly. If we’re a paint-by-numbers, he’s a piece by Jackson Pollock.”

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that artist, sir,” she confessed, and Gabriel pursed his lips.

“Good. His work is hideous.”

“Sir, that’s not a very nice thing to say about your son.”

Gabriel adjusted his glasses, and Nathalie knew he was trying not to smile. “... anyways. Pollock’s work looks like someone just grabbed paint in their fists and threw it at a canvas. It’s all-over-the-place, was my point. So is Adrien. That can be a good thing, at times. I certainly never would have thought to purchase water guns and surprise us with them. I’m just worried … well, I don’t know why I’m worried. I’ve been concerned for him for so long, I’ve forgotten exactly why.”

“There are lots of reasons to fear for him,” Nathalie reassured him, “He’s a celebrity. He has legions of loyal fans, some of whom are more obsessive than others. Not to mention, he seems to have a fascination with Paris’ heroes and akuma battles. He certainly could get hurt. However,” she added, when she saw Gabriel open his mouth, “With an adequate protection detail, such as the one he has already, most of those fears should be alleviated. It’s admirable that you want to protect your son, Gabriel. But you are already.”

“Thank you, Nathalie,” he said, just as Adrien returned.

“I’m back! So, anyways, it’s almost 4pm. I set an alarm on my phone for 4:45, so we can keep going until then.” He threw the beach ball back into the pool before hopping back in himself. “Who wants to be in the middle first?”

Being in the middle of Gabriel and his son was not something Nathalie needed more of in her life. “Why don’t you start, since it was your idea?”

Adrien shrugged and took his place. Nathalie was struck with a flashback to all those years ago, herself and Gabriel swinging Adrien between them. She’d been getting more sentimental lately, it seemed. She needed to get a grip.

She threw the ball over Adrien’s head. The game was on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All opinions on art are my own. 
> 
> Find me and request fictober prompts/bingo squares on [Tumblr!](http://www.skeletoncloset.tumblr.com)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner, drinks, and movie attempt number 2 ... among other things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things to note going into this chapter:  
\- champagne glasses are called flutes  
\- a group of butterflies is called a kaleidoscope

She had actually had some fun at the pool, but Nathalie was more than ready to go back up to the room and get ready for dinner. Unfortunately, her hair had gotten pretty wet throughout their pool fun, so she did have to wash it again, but the refreshing mango scent the hotel toiletries possessed wasn’t getting old yet. 

Feeling refreshed, she stepped back into her room and wrapped herself up in the hotel’s bathrobe. She ran a brush through her wet hair and put it up in a towel, and then braced herself for her dinner attire. The morning’s dress and her swimsuit had both been better than expected, so maybe this one would be, too? Or maybe it would be so, so much worse. Either way, there was only one way to find out.

_ Hmm. _

It was tea-length, which was good. The neckline was modest, though it was sleeveless again. And it was flowy, not tight. Those were three good things about it. But there was one major flaw, and that was its color. The dress was a peachy pink, and for someone with Nathalie’s coloration, that was a death sentence. 

_ Mr. Agreste had to know that it was me who would be wearing it when he packed it _ , she reasoned, not entirely convinced,  _ so it shouldn’t be so bad. He wouldn’t have me model a design if he knew I would make it look bad. _

She glanced at the time: 5:40. She might as well get dressed now. 

The fabric was cool and breezy on her skin, and it twirled with her when she gave an experimental spin. Nathalie had never found tea-length skirts to be particularly flattering on her, but it didn’t look so bad. The color, though, was worse than she could have imagined. One glance in the full-length mirror gave her a plethora of gripes. _ It’s bringing out my sunburn. It emphasizes the bags under my eyes. It makes my paleness into the paleness of a corpse.  _

She tore herself away from her reflection. Tearing herself down wouldn’t help anything; she’d just be more of a nervous wreck than she already was. She let her hair down and did her makeup in the same way as yesterday, save for a pinker lip, before giving in and looking back at herself once more. Maybe it would be different now that she was made up and not wearing a towel turban.

It wasn’t.  _ Now I look like I’m in middle school with all this pink. I’m an overgrown fourteen-year-old.  _

There was a knock on the door connecting her room to the boys’. “Come in.”

Gabriel opened the door, holding in his free hand a pair of white, strappy heels. They were higher than she was used to wearing, but then again, what  _ was  _ she used to on this trip, besides feeling out of place? “I brought you the finishing touches,” he said, and then added, “How do you feel?”

“I hate it,” she said honestly, and he twitched. “Sorry, sir. That was rude and out of line of me.”

“No, no,” he countered, setting the shoes as well as several accessories down on her desk. “I value your ability to speak candidly with me when it is called for. It’s one of the only things that keeps me in line. Why do you hate it?”

Nathalie could feel tears poking at the corners of her eyes. She bit her lip and gathered her thoughts for a moment, and then spoke. “I don’t wear pastels for a reason. They do all sorts of things to my complexion. I mean, seriously, how can I look simultaneously sunburned and also the palest I’ve ever been? And because I look so pale I look exhausted, and the last thing we need is people wondering why that is.” Gabriel moved to speak, but she wasn’t done. “ _ And _ , I don’t even like pink, but I don’t wearing like it  _ especially _ because it makes me feel like I’m a little kid playing dress-up.”

“Are you quite done?” he asked flatly, and she nodded. “Good. Your opinion on the matter has been noted. I won’t ask you to wear pink again. However, I do need you to do this for tonight. Can you handle it?”

“I won’t let you down, sir,” she answered, managing to keep her voice stable and devoid of emotion. 

“Good. Don’t.” He took her hair in his hands and started brushing it. “Just remember that I made this decision, and trust in it.” 

Nathalie watched in the mirror as Gabriel styled her hair into a half-up half-down arrangement, and then twisted the half-up into a loose bun. He grabbed one of several rose-gold butterfly clips and secured her hair with it, then repeated the process a few more times so that it looked like a small kaleidoscope had stopped for a rest on her head. “There are a lot of butterflies in this collection.”   


“Why not? It’s my brand logo.”

“Making your brand logo a butterfly doesn’t trigger any warning bells in your head?”   


“Why should it?  _ Gabriel  _ was a brand before Hawkmoth was a public figure. I won’t let him steal my thunder. If anyone gets suspicious and asks about it, the official reason I won’t change it is that I’m trying to reclaim them from him. Besides,” he added, “We’re not in Paris right now. People don’t have that kind of intrinsic fear here. To them, butterflies are just butterflies.”

Nathalie couldn’t argue with that. Gabriel brought back the watch as well as the bracelet she’d liked so much earlier and she slipped them both back on before doing her shoes as well. He extended a hand, and she stood carefully. She took a deep breath and glanced in the mirror one more time.

Next to Gabriel, she didn’t look like an overgrown fourteen-year-old, or like she was a corpse, or any of those things. His white long-sleeve button down and dusty pink pants were simple, but they looked nice on him, as did his boat shoes and watch. Nathalie could feel her anger slipping away as she stood there. The two of them looked like they belonged together.  _ A unit _ , he had said earlier on the trip. Nathalie wouldn’t mind if that was true.

Adrien came into her room, wearing the inverse of Gabriel’s outfit, as usual. He joined them in the mirror and smiled. “We look so cool and coordinated together,” he remarked with a smile. “Nathalie, I’ve never seen you in pink, but you should wear it more!”

“No,” she said flatly, and then, more warmly, “But thank you.”

* * *

The evening was slightly cool, and Nathalie was glad her skirt was long as they made their way to the outdoor restaurant. Hau Tree was its name, and its waterfront location made Nathalie wish Gabriel would have given her a cardigan or scarf of some sort. That ocean breeze was going to give her gooseflesh. 

They sat at exactly 7, and Gabriel ordered for all of them once more. “For Nathalie and myself, a glass of the Niner Red Blend,” he started. Nathalie moved to protest, but a sharp glare from her boss stopped her.  _ I guess this is happening again _ , she thought.  _ Well, what the hell. If he insists.  _

Gabriel continued, oblivious to Nathalie’s mental conversation. “Adrien will have water to drink. We’ll need an order of the poke & chips to start, and then for my entrée I will have the tonkatsu. Nathalie will have the portobello steak, and Adrien will have the garlic shrimp. That will be all.” 

Their waiter scribbled furiously for a moment more, clearly not expecting Gabriel to rattle off so much so quickly. He finished and disappeared, and Gabriel cleared his throat. “While we wait, I thought it might be prudent for us to take a look at what people have been saying about us and the prototype collection.”

Nathalie understood that that was code for, ‘Nathalie, get out the tablet and look it up.’ She quickly searched for ‘Adrien Agreste Hawaii’ and handed it over to Gabriel, who skimmed the results until he found something worth noting. 

“The reviews on our attire are all mostly positive,” he said, and Nathalie could hear a tiny note of relief in his voice. “In fact, many people are asking when this all will be available in stores. Nathalie, when can we have it ready?”

“Sir, I’m afraid I can’t give an answer right away,” she replied apologetically. “We haven’t contacted anyone about the production of the pieces yet. I can estimate it should be available by early spring, but at the moment an exact date isn’t possible.”   


“That’s good enough,” he said with a nod. “And that’s good to hear. I don’t want excitement to die down too much.” 

He handed the tablet back to Nathalie. On its screen, she noticed a magazine article, “What are the Agrestes doing in Hawaii?”

Against her better judgement--she knew better than to read gossip columns about their personal lives--she opened the article, and skimmed for a bit until she came to the first picture. It was of her, in her orange dress from yesterday, but it was anything but flattering. She was sitting down, and the fabric on the dress was bunching awkwardly at the stomach. ‘Promotion! Did Mr. Agreste invite Ms. Sancoeur on this vacation because he got her pregnant?’ it said mockingly. 

Nathalie gripped the tablet a little tighter in anger, but she kept reading. There was another picture, in her red dress, on their way to dinner. She still looked pale from her near-fainting spell earlier. ‘Get a tan, hon! You’re so pale you’re practically transparent!’

_ This article isn’t even about the new line,  _ she fumed,  _ It’s about making us look bad. But why go after me? I’m not even an Agreste! _

She had just come to a picture of her smiling like a maniac in the pool earlier (wow, they were fast) when the tablet was plucked from her hand. She looked up to see Mr. Agreste setting it on the floor under his chair. “Sir, what--”

“I inquired about the reviews of our clothing,” he said shortly. “I didn’t ask for the gossip. It’s all fake. We do not stoop to their level by reading it. That’s what the legal team is for.”

Nathalie felt her cheeks burning. She ducked her head. He was right, of course, and in the past she had never succumbed to the temptation. What was it about this business trip that made her second-guess everything? Years of professionalism were gone at the drop of a hat. It wasn’t entirely her fault--Gabriel was insisting on more casual behavior, and who was she to say no--but it was at the same time. She was responsible for her own weakness. “I’m sorry, sir,” she mumbled. “I was just checking to make sure there was no scandal. I would hate for this otherwise very successful trip to be marred by some press nonsense.”

“Your intentions were admirable,” he commended, and she lifted her head to meet his gaze, “But my point still stands. If there had been a scandal, you couldn’t have done anything about it right now anyways, and it most likely would have negatively influenced your actions for the rest of the trip besides. I know relaxing isn’t something you do often, but you need to try. For the good of the company.”

“And for your own good,” Adrien added, knocking his elbow against hers. “The good of  _ Gabriel  _ is, well, good and all, but it’s entirely dependent on you at this point. I don’t think the company would last a month if you decided to quit.”

“Adrien,” Gabriel said sternly, and Adrien shrugged.

“I’m just saying what I think. I hope we never find out whether I’m right or not.”

At that moment, their appetizer arrived. The chips were wonderfully salty, but not overpoweringly so, combined with the fatty poke and the sauce that had just the right amount of lime to bring it all together. Despite their attempts to comport themselves in a more refined manner, Nathalie and Gabriel ate their portion just as fast as Adrien, who, being a teenage boy, had no such worries. Gabriel took a long sip of his wine and sighed contentedly. “There’s nothing quite like a good red wine.”

“Tell us about this one, Father,” Adrien asked, before drinking about half of his water glass in one gulp. “Like you did yesterday’s.”

“This is a private label,” he explained, “So I can’t.”   


Adrien mumbled something that sounded like “More like couldn’t Google it.” Nathalie smiled.

“Try the wine,” Gabriel told her, gesturing to her full glass with his own half-empty one. She dropped her smile, but did as he asked, lifting the glass to her lips and taking a small sip. It was fine.

“How is it?”

“It’s fine.”

Gabriel shook his head good-naturedly. “One day.”

She set the glass back down on the table. “Hmm?”

“One day you’ll have an appreciation for wine, even if it’s still not your drink of choice,” he elaborated, before directing his attention to Adrien. “You will too, son. I’m sure of it.”

“Did Mother like wine?” Adrien asked, voice small.

Gabriel took another sip before answering. “She did. Loved it, in fact. She’s the one who got me to like it in the first place. She said she couldn’t love someone so uncultured. If I’m remembering correctly, those are her exact words.”

Nathalie had never heard that before, and by the look on his face, neither had Adrien. It was rare for Gabriel to open up about the past. Maybe it was the wine.

Their food arrived. One day, Nathalie would be annoyed at Gabriel for ordering for her, but that day would not be today, not when he kept picking such delicious entrées.

They ate quickly, due in part to both the tastiness of their respective dinners and the cool night breeze making lingering a rather unattractive prospect. Adrien turned to look at his father with expectant eyes, and Gabriel answered his unasked question. “Yes, you may go meet your friends. Be back by … let’s see. Nathalie, when should Adrien be in the hotel room?”

“I think 11 would be fine, sir.” Nathalie ran through the next day’s schedule quickly in her head. “There are no formal photoshoots scheduled for tomorrow, so he can sleep in a bit. Not too much, though,” she added when Adrien lit up a bit, and felt a pang of guilt doing so. “You should still be up by 8 or so. There will still be plenty of paparazzi and fans alike taking pictures of you tomorrow, and it is our last day. I expect you’ll want to fill it with activity.”

“That makes sense,” Adrien agreed. “I promise to be back by 11.”

“Good.” Gabriel clapped a hand on Adrien’s shoulder as he walked by his son. “Go.”

Adrien did not need to be told twice. He smiled, and ran.

Gabriel looked back at Nathalie. “Coming?”

“Where are we going, sir?”

He smiled. “Where else?” 

Nathalie had never been one for going out, much to the annoyance of her friends in college. Finding someone like Gabriel, whose idea of a perfect evening was staying in his house with some high quality food and drink, was like a dream. She was living a piece of that dream now, in her  _ Gabriel  _ pajamas from two years ago, sitting on a king-size bed in Hawaii, watching  _ The Parent Trap  _ on a TV about as wide as her wingspan. Gabriel was perched beside her, somehow matching her pajamas again even though they hadn’t coordinated at all.  _ This powder blue shade looks much nicer on him than it does on me _ , she thought.  _ But also, it’s absurd to care about the color of my  _ _ pajamas _ _ . This job is really getting to me.  _

“This movie is possibly more ridiculous than the last one,” Gabriel complained. “Did they honestly think it was a good idea to just each take one twin and hope for the best?”

“It would have worked perfectly, had they not ended up together at summer camp,” Nathalie reasoned. “How were they supposed to know that the other parent had picked the same camp as them, especially when Elizabeth and Annie lived in another country?”

“I can’t believe you’re taking their side on this.” 

“I’m not _taking_ _sides_, we’re watching a movie.”

Gabriel crossed his arms. “This is incredibly disrespectful to both the  _ Gabriel  _ brand and me as a person.”

Before Nathalie could find a reply to that, there was a knock on the door. Gabriel rose from the bed and answered it. “Thank you,” he said curtly, plucking the bottle of champagne and two flutes from the hotel employee’s hands. “That will be all.”

Nathalie flinched when he opened the bottle. Champagne was unnecessarily loud. “Why did you order champagne?”

Gabriel returned to his spot beside her on the bed. “This trip has been an outstanding success. People can’t stop talking about us and, more importantly, what we’re wearing. Adrien is having a good time as well, which is a bonus. I think a bit of a celebration is in order.”

“I didn’t know you were much for celebrations,” Nathalie said, accepting her empty flute. She held it in front of her as Gabriel poured enough champagne to fill it all the way to the top. A bit of it dripped down the side when she moved the flute closer to her.

“I’m not,” he confirmed. “But cheers.”

They touched their flutes together, causing more champagne to spill. It ran onto Nathalie’s fingers as she lifted hers to her lips.

She may have not been much for wine, but champagne went down much easier. Nathalie had no problem draining her allotted portion, and Gabriel was more than happy to give her more. He himself also made quick work of his drink. 

She had never been one to drink, so the wine from earlier combined with more and more champagne made her  _ just  _ a bit tipsy. A quick glance at Gabriel told her that her was feeling the effects as well; his normally perfectly even skin was just the tiniest bit flushed, and his usual scowl had been replaced with an easy smile. “I think we’ve had enough to drink,” she said slowly, feeling out each word on her tongue.

“I will judge that based on whether or not I can tolerate this movie,” Gabriel replied. 

That wasn’t really that funny of a remark, but Nathalie couldn’t help but laugh anyways. She fell backwards onto the mountain of pillows provided by the hotel, clutching her splitting sides. 

“I don’t know what you’re laughing about,” Gabriel said in his most serious voice, before breaking into a laugh of his own. He followed her lead and lied down, and they stayed like that for a long while. Nathalie wasn’t sure how long that while was, but she did know that, once again, she had completely lost track of the plot of the movie.

A thought entered her brain. “You know what I want right now? More than anything?”

“What?”

This was such a bad idea. Nathalie said it anyways. “I wish we could be Hawkmoth and Mayura, and just go out and explore. No akuma, no amok, no Ladybug and Chat Noir, just us and our enhanced abilities.”

“Nathalie,  _ no _ ,” Gabriel said emphatically, and placed a hand on top of hers. “I simply cannot allow that.”

“I know,” she murmured. “It was just a thought. I knew it wasn’t actually possible. I just feel so weak now, when I’m just regular Nathalie. Like my body could give out any second. As Mayura, I’m so strong. As Nathalie, I’m a liability.”

“I hope you don’t seriously think that you are in any way a liability.” Gabriel’s voice was firm yet warm. “You are not a hindrance, or a nuisance, or a burden, or a disadvantage to me in any way. I know I don’t always make this evident in my actions, but I do believe that what Adrien said earlier is correct.” He squeezed her hand. “Without you, the company would collapse.  _ I  _ would collapse. So stay with me instead of dying young, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered. 

He smiled, and removed his hand from hers, sitting up. “Good. Now, I have totally lost track of what exactly is happening here, but it can’t be too hard to figure out. They’re obviously going to try to get the parents back together.”

Oh, the movie. It was still playing on the TV. Nathalie sat back up slowly, not ready to re-enter normalcy just yet. Another idea crossed her mind, about as dangerous as the first. “You brought the butterfly Miraculous with you, didn’t you?”

“Nathalie, what are you--” he started, before she interrupted him. She never would have done that in Paris, but this wasn’t Paris. This wasn’t France, or even Europe. There was an ocean (both physical and metaphorical) between that Nathalie and this one. 

“You totally did. There’s no way you would have left it behind in Paris,” she reasoned. “I’m guessing you don’t wear it to bed, because Nooroo might keep you up or otherwise distract you at night, so it’s probably in your suitcase right now.”

Nathalie narrowly evaded Gabriel’s grasp and slipped through the door to his room. He burst through after her at the second she fastened the Miraculous to her pajamas. “Hello, Nooroo,” she said quietly, unsure of how thick and soundproofed the walls were. In a place like this, they were most likely as good as money could make them, but one could never be sure.

“Miss Nathalie?” Nooroo was obviously confused, but that was okay. He would figure it out soon enough.

“We’re mixing things up,” she said by way of explanation. “Nooroo, dark wings rise!”

The rush of energy, of power, of pure  _ magic  _ that surged through her body was something she would never get used to. As always, it was over a bit too quickly, settling into a steady hum just beneath her skin. She glanced past Gabriel’s horrified expression to find her reflection in the mirror.

It was strange, maintaining her natural skin color while transformed. It was even more strange to be wearing a mask. She pulled at its edge gently, not surprised when it stayed put instead of peeling away. It was magic, after all. 

Another thing that was different was that she wasn’t wearing a skirt. It wasn’t a bodysuit like Ladybug wore, either, though. It was most akin to one of her usual pantsuits that she wore to work each day. She smiled a bit at that. The skirt she had as Mayura was a nice change of pace, but she had always been more of a fan of pants. 

There was much more of the transformation to inspect, but Gabriel was quickly regaining composure. He grabbed her wrists and held her still. “It’s a good thing I didn’t bring any butterflies. Now detransform.”

She didn’t.

“Nathalie.”

“That’s not my name now,” she singsonged. 

“That doesn’t matter!” he snapped. 

She flinched, and then coughed once. And then several more times.

He sucked in a breath. “Say the words. Transform back.” 

“I’ll be fine in just a second,” she wheezed. “Just give me--”

His hands moved to her shoulders, and the pressure from his fingertips digging into them was immense. If she had not been transformed, she most likely would have had bruises forming there. “Say the phrase!” he said again, and shook her once for good measure. 

She hesitated.

“SAY IT!”

“Dark wings fall,” she said quickly, between coughs and gasps for air. At once, she felt the life rush out of her, and swayed forward into Gabriel’s arms.

“Why would you do that?” he asked quietly. “You are dying fast enough. Do not hasten the process with foolishness.”

“I’m--”  _ sorry _ , she wanted to say, but it got caught in her throat, blocked by another round of coughs.

“Why do you think I brought us all the way out here?” When Nathalie didn’t respond, Gabriel held her at arms length, looking into her eyes, before answering his own question. “We could have done a beach- and resort-wear photoshoot at a beach in France. I had us travel so that I would have no choice but to take a break from being Hawkmoth. So that  _ you  _ would have no choice but to take a break from being Mayura.”

Nathalie could feel tears building in her eyes. “But your goal--”

“Emilie has been asleep for two years,” Gabriel interrupted. “She can sleep for three more days. I will succeed in the end, if I have your help. But I cannot be sure I will succeed without it.”

They were silent for a long moment. Nathalie was suddenly aware that they were still very close together. 

Gabriel seemed to notice the lack of distance, too. But he didn’t add to it like she expected. In fact, she never could have expected that he would do what he did next. 

She watched him lean in in slow motion. There was just enough time for her eyes to flutter closed before his lips were on hers, in a chaste, sweet, perfect kiss. 

It wasn’t long. It wasn’t deep. Just a few humble seconds of lips pressed together. But it was wonderful.

And then it ended. Nathalie opened her eyes, and her heart dropped when she took in Gabriel’s expression. Sadness. Doubt. Regret. 

“I …” he started, before trailing off. He shook his head. “I’m sorry. That was completely inappropriate. I don’t know what came over me.” He stood up quickly and extended a hand to help her do the same. It was a good thing he did; her legs were like jelly, and she could have sat on his floor all night before that changed. 

Nathalie didn’t say anything as she walked back to her own room and shut the door behind her. How could she? Gabriel Agreste, the man with whom she was in love and for whom she would give her life, had  _ kissed  _ her. And then  _ apologized _ afterwards.

The tears from earlier finally made their appearance. She turned the TV off and collapsed face-first onto the bed, and cried. 


	8. Chapter 8

When Nathalie woke up, her alarm was going off. That part wasn’t anything unusual. What  _ was _ unusual, however, was that her head was pounding along with the alarm. She opened her eyes slowly and turned it off, then took stock of her current situation. She had a headache, and her mouth was unbearably dry. But what--

_ Oh.  _

All of the previous night flashed through her mind in an instant.  _ Champagne. Nooroo. Kiss. Apology. I cried myself to sleep, I think. Is that why I’m so dehydrated? Oh god, today is going to be so awkward, Adrien is totally going to notice something is up-- _

“Miss Nathalie, are you alright?” a familiar voice asked timidly, hovering close to her ear. 

_ Oh my god, I’m still wearing the Butterfly Miraculous _ .

“I’m fine,” she said a little too quickly to be believable. It wasn’t likely that she could lie to a kwami that could sense emotions anyways. She extended a hand, and he rested on her palm. “I’m sorry for keeping you here all night, Nooroo. I’ll give you back to Gabriel right away.”

“I don’t mind,” he assured her, and she smiled. “I don’t get out much, you know.”

“I can imagine,” she said, her tone wry. “I’d like to keep you with me, but that definitely isn’t a good idea. Besides, I think Duusu would get jealous.”

Nooroo didn’t say anything, but she could tell he found that last remark amusing. He didn’t complain when she removed the Miraculous from her person and he vanished into the jewel. 

Finally alone, Nathalie examined her reflection in her phone’s front-facing camera. Her eyelashes were clumped together, probably by tears. Her eyes had purple crescents under them, hallmarks of one too many nights of poor or missed sleep. The light seemed to catch dried tear tracts when she turned a certain way. In short, she was a mess. That would be excusable, since she had just woken up, but Gabriel and Emilie were both the sort of people who looked perfectly poised even in sleep. Adrien did not seem to have inherited that trait, but maybe he would grow into it. Nathalie doubted that would be the case with her. 

Her tongue felt like sandpaper. She removed herself from the bed with great effort and drank a glass of water, and then started the shower. 

The mango, for once, did not seem as magical. It couldn’t scrub away the events of the past evening. Nathalie supposed that had been asking a little much of some hotel toiletries.

It was merely coincidence, as all the outfits had been packed and labeled before they left Paris, but Nathalie was relieved that on a day destined to be uncomfortable, her outfit was much more like what she was used to wearing back home, though modified to make it acceptable for a Hawaiian vacation. Her usual turtleneck was instead a blousy red tank, and her trousers palazzo pants in a warm white. No blazer was given, so her arms would be bare, but otherwise this was the most conservative and business-like outfit she had been provided yet. She slipped a pair of red sandals on her feet before applying the finishing touches; a gold necklace and bracelet, as well as a red-and-gold watch, completed the look. 

Nathalie put her hair up in its usual bun, but pulled a few pieces of hair out of it to frame the sides of her face. She did her makeup in a natural look, save for a red lip. Then, she looked at her reflection in the mirror one more time, rolled her shoulders back, and grabbed her tablet and phone, before knocking on the connecting door. 

Adrien answered. “Good morning, Nathalie!” He was, of course, in an outfit designed to go well with hers, comprised of a red golf shirt and white shorts. “Father already left, I guess. He was gone when I woke up.”

_ You coward _ , she thought meanly, before correcting herself.  _ He knew it would be weird and wanted to keep his space. He’s protecting Adrien. He’s always protecting Adrien _ .

“Is that so?” she said in what she hoped was a neutral tone. “Well, what do you say we go get some breakfast just the two of us, then?”

“Can we go back to the place we were yesterday?” he asked, voice hopeful and eyes wide. 

She laughed. “Missing those cinnamon rolls?” 

He laughed as well. “I mean, yeah. They were delicious. I could definitely go for one or two more.”

“That sounds fine to me,” she agreed. She discreetly dropped the Miraculous into one of Gabriel’s suitcases, and they walked down slowly. The day was beautiful once again, and if Nathalie were in possession of just a little less common sense she might wonder if Gabriel had paid the weather to behave. They took their seats at the Copper Bar Café and ordered the same thing they had the day before. Once the server was gone, Adrien spoke.

“Did you and Father have a fight?”

It was a good thing Nathalie didn’t have her coffee yet, because she would have spat it everywhere. As it was, she sucked in a breath and didn’t meet Adrien’s eyes. “What gave you that impression?”

“Well, when I came home last night, he was just sitting on the bed staring at the wall,” Adrien explained. “He looked like he was thinking really hard, and also like he was kinda upset. He didn’t say anything to me until I went to bed, and that was just ‘Goodnight, son’, and then this morning he didn’t say anything at all.” He sighed. “It’s not unusual for him to not speak to me, but when I was in the same room as him? And he’s been so chatty these past few days. I dunno, I just …” he trailed off, and then sighed again. “I was getting used to it. But anyways, that’s why I asked.”

_ This kid’s too smart for his own good _ . “Well, I wouldn’t say we had a fight,” she said carefully, and then the server arrived with their breakfast. She waited until they were alone again to continue. “But we did have a disagreement.”

“It must have been about something big to affect him like this, right?” Adrien said between bites of cinnamon roll. “Surely you and Father disagreeing isn’t a rare thing.”

“You’d be surprised,” she corrected him. “We see eye-to-eye on most things. That’s why he chose me. He wouldn’t want an assistant who would be quarrelsome.”

“I guess not,” Adrien conceded. “But, still. What were you arguing about?”

This was a tricky question. Nathalie obviously couldn’t tell Adrien the truth, but he was clearly picking up on body language and unspoken social cues better now. Lying would only make him more suspicious. She settled for a half-truth. “Your father thinks I’m overworking myself. I pushed myself, and he became angry at me. Then he realized what he was doing and left to cool down. I haven’t seen him since.”

Adrien seemed to accept that. “You do push yourself, though.”

“I do,” she conceded. “But sometimes it’s necessary.”

“Sometimes,” Adrien repeated. “Not all the time.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you agreeing with your father?”

He giggled. “Crazy, right? But yes, I am. I meant what I said, when I said that we couldn’t survive without you. I realize now that that could be taken two ways. I wasn’t saying that you should work as hard as you can until you collapse. I was saying that if you collapse, you’ll take us down with you.”

Nathalie didn’t know what to say in response to that. She took a bite of her breakfast instead. 

Adrien seemed to understand that she was done with that conversation, because they finished their breakfast in silence. 

* * *

After they cleaned their plates and put the bill on their room, an idea came to Nathalie. “Why don’t we take a walk on the beach? We’re not far away.”  _ Not far  _ was an incredible understatement; besides the fact that they were at a beachside resort, they were scarcely a few steps from the ocean. 

Adrien smiled at the suggestion. “But you don’t like the sand. Besides, we’re not dressed for it.”

“I know  _ I  _ don’t like it, but you do,” she reasoned. “And all we have to do be properly dressed is take off our shoes. I’m not planning on swimming.”

“Will you be okay without sunscreen?” 

Nathalie considered the question for a moment before responding. “I think I’ll be okay, as long as our walk isn’t too long. It’s early still.”

“Well, in that case,” Adrien said, already heading towards the ocean, “A beach walk sounds like a fantastic idea.”

If she was one to appreciate such things, Nathalie would have loved the state of the beach that day. The water was so blue, enhanced by the absolutely clear sky. A breeze moved the pieces of hair not tucked back in her bun as she and Adrien stood at the entrance to the beach and surveyed it. 

“I think we could safely leave our shoes over here,” Adrien said, removing his footwear and stashing it under the beach entrance boardwalk. 

“It’s not too open,” Nathalie agreed with a nod, and took her own shoes off as well. She liked them up neatly with Adrien’s and then away they went. 

“Thank you for making this trip so amazing,” Adrien said, once they were a bit into their journey. 

“This was your father’s idea. I merely assisted with the execution.”

“The execution is the part that matters.” Adrien ran a hand through his hair, making his previously neat hair disheveled. Gabriel would have had heart palpitations. “Like yeah, Father said that we would go to Hawaii, but this trip could very easily have been all work and no fun. And even if he insisted on planning time for fun, you definitely made it even more fun by hanging out with me. Sandcastles, water guns, beach walks, they’re all fine by themselves, but it’s the people I did them with that made me have such a great time here.” He smiled up at her, and she felt her heart clench. “I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such a great first family vacation. I think the only thing that could make it better would be if Mom were here, too.”

Her throat was so tight that Nathalie had to force her next words out. “You’re so incredibly strong, Adrien,” she murmured, running her fingers through his hair to undo his work from earlier and comb his messy hair back into something a little neater. “I hope you know that. I hope you never doubt that.”

He leaned into her touch. “You’re pretty strong, too, you know.”

Nathalie retracted her hand. “What do you mean by that?”

“No one else could spend so much time with Father and not go insane. You’re strong.”

She smiled. “That’s not very nice of you to say. But thank you.” She glanced at her watch. “Should we turn around?”

Adrien agreed, and they walked back to the hotel in companionable silence.

* * *

When they reached their shoes and slipped them on, Adrien spoke up. “I have an idea. Is there any way we could rent bikes and ride them around the island?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave the property,” Nathalie said slowly, watching Adrien’s face fall ever so slightly. “But I could have some delivered here and we could ride them around the resort?”

Adrien nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. Then, if Father needs us, we won’t be so far away. It would happen, too, that the second we leave he would summon us right back.” The last part was said with more than a little bitterness in his voice.

“Your father works very hard and keeps a tight schedule,” Nathalie defended, but her heart wasn’t in it. There really wasn’t an excuse for some of the things Gabriel did, much as she loved him. Besides, Adrien didn’t seem like he was in the mood to accept her usual apology on behalf of his father. She cleared her throat and got her phone out of her bag. “Two bikes?”

He nodded, a smile returning to his face. She made the call, and they went to get a snack while they waited on the delivery.

About forty-five minutes later, Nathalie and Adrien were mounting their rental bikes. They were a little rusty, and more than a little sandy, and not quite the right height and size, but they would do perfectly for a fun afternoon. The day had gotten just a little too hot for her to be comfortable in long pants, so the breeze from a bike ride was more than welcome. They didn’t go very fast, since they were just riding on the sidewalks at the resort, which were also in use by pedestrians, but it was better than nothing. 

Neither of them had realized just how big the property was, nor just how beautiful it was. Their bike tour was slow and leisurely, with ample time spent stopping to admire a view or the landscaping or something of the like. Adrien took plenty of pictures for his Instagram, and Nathalie was more than happy to take a few of him for social media as well. 

He did ask her to be in one, a shot taken in front of the ocean. “Please, Nathalie?”

Her mind was full of the nasty things the tabloids had been saying about her the past few days. “I don’t know …” she said hesitantly, before rolling her shoulders and taking a deep breath. “You know what? Okay. Just one, though.”

He offered a simple “thank you” and a grateful smile, and took a selfie of the two of them. Then, they were back on their bikes.

It was about 3pm by the time they were tired and sweaty and more than ready for a real lunch. It was a little late for that last one, but Nathalie had an idea. “Let’s go up to our rooms and shower and change for dinner, and we can order room service.”   


Adrien agreed, and they returned the bikes before rushing upstairs. 

The mango seemed a little more like its usual self when Nathalie took her afternoon shower. It wasn’t fair to have taken out her morning frustrations on its pleasing scent. 

She and Adrien finished cleaning up and wrapped themselves up in the hotel’s fluffy bathrobes. He joined her in her room, and then they picked up the phone for room service. Nathalie was glad that Gabriel was paying, because teenage boys really did eat as much for lunch as she ate in a whole day. If Adrien was her kid, she would absolutely have been bankrupt a long time ago.

‘If Adrien was her kid.’ She needed to stop having dangerous thoughts like that. 

“I’ll have a Loco Moco and a Kauna’oa Burger,” Adrien said to the person on the other side of the phone, and--hold on one second.” He covered the phone. “Nathalie, what are you going to eat?”

“A Poke Bowl,” she said, and then added, “And maybe a fruit platter that we can share?”

Adrien nodded and relayed that to the person taking his order. He hung up, and flopped down onto her bed. “Wow, I’m actually pretty wiped. I had a lot of fun today.”

“Let’s eat and rest, so that we can have a good last night here,” Nathalie commented, and Adrien gave her a thumbs-up. 

There was a knock at the door. Nathalie and Adrien sprang up to open it and carried their lunch inside. 

Adrien grabbed the TV remote and turned it on. The news was on. “Do you think these people realize how lucky they are to not have to deal with akuma attacks multiple times a week?” 

“Do you think they even know about akuma attacks?” Nathalie countered, getting their food ready. “It’s hard to know you’re lucky for not having to deal with something if you don’t even know that that something exists.”

“They have the Internet in America, though.” No longer interested in the news, Adrien moved on to the next channel. It was some sort of children’s cartoon. “Surely they know about them by now.”

Nathalie didn’t say anything in response to that. “Come eat,” she said instead. “You ordered a lot of food.”

“Yes, Mom,” Adrien said teasingly. Nathalie’s heart jumped a little, but she didn’t let it show. 

Her bowl and the fruit were both delicious. Judging by how Adrien devoured his burger and loco moco, his was every bit as good. 

They ate quietly, Adrien absentmindedly flipping through TV channels while they did so. When they were almost done, there was a knock at the door connecting Adrien’s room to Nathalie’s. 

Adrien jumped off the bed to open it. “Father?”

“Son,” Gabriel said neutrally. “I was wondering where you were.”

“We’re having lunch,” Nathalie said. 

Adrien moved out of the way, and Gabriel strode into the room. He was dressed in red and white, same as Nathalie and Adrien. “This late in the day?”

“We were riding bikes earlier,” Adrien explained, “And we were having such a good time we didn’t notice that we were hungry—”

“I should hope you didn’t leave the property,” he interrupted coldly, and both Nathalie and Adrien flinched ever so slightly.

“No, sir,” Nathalie said. “We just rode around the resort. I knew you would prefer it that way.”

Was it her imagination, or did his posture relax ever so slightly? Did his scowl settle into something just a tad more neutral?

He nodded. “Good. Adrien, I’m not sure if Nathalie briefed you on this evening yet.” He glanced at her, and she shook her head no. “It is 4pm. The three of us will be dining on the Vista Decks tonight at 7pm. We will leave here at 6:45. You won’t be able to go out tonight with friends, because we have an early flight tomorrow and we will need to spend tonight getting ready.”

Adrien nodded once. “That seems reasonable.”

“Good.” Gabriel looked between Adrien and Nathalie, and then nodded once himself. “You should finish eating soon. Don’t spoil your dinner. And leave enough time to get ready.”

“Of course, sir,” Nathalie said neutrally, and then Gabriel went back to his room.

Adrien flopped back on to the bed. “Ugh. I guess I’d better go, huh?”

“It seems your father would appreciate that,” Nathalie confirmed. Adrien rolled off the bed onto the floor. “Adrien!” 

“I’m fine. Just didn’t feel like sitting up.” He pushed himself into a standing position and walked over to the door. “See you soon.”   


Nathalie set about finishing her lunch.


	9. Chapter 9

Lunch complete, and shower already taken, Nathalie decided she had better go ahead and get dressed for dinner. Gabriel had decided once again to have her wear something clearly meant for younger, more beautiful women like the models he employed: a thin white dress that was practically sheer, with an off-the-shoulder neckline and lacy sleeves. It was airy and casual, and had no business being as comfortable and soft as it was when she slipped it on. Nathalie knew she would feel far less at ease wearing it outside her hotel room, but they were dining in a secluded location that night, so hopefully she would be observed (and photographed) by fewer people.

As Nathalie slipped a pair of navy, strappy leather sandals onto her feet, she thanked Gabriel mentally that were chunky heels instead of stilettos. He was always pushing her boundaries when it came to fashion, but he knew she valued comfort and practicability, and honored her preferences at least  _ some  _ of the time. She could certainly stand for that respect  _ all  _ the time, but that would (maybe) come in time. 

Nathalie had just looked in the mirror and wondered what kind of makeup she should do when she received a text. 

It was from Gabriel.  _ I’ll do your makeup _ , it said.  _ Come over whenever you’re ready _ .

Well, that answered that.  _ Should I do my regular base makeup before I come over? _ she replied.

_ That’s fine _ , he fired back.  _ I’ll see you whenever _ .

She applied her regular moisturizer, primer, and foundation, and brushed her hair until it was as straight and silky as she could reasonably expect. Then she took a deep, stole another glance at her reflection, and gathered her phone and tablet. Finally, she knocked on the door separating her from Gabriel.

He opened it and stepped back, allowing her entrance. “Please, sit.” 

She looked over his outfit before she took her place in the chair at the hotel desk. He was in a light gray suit, accented with a white shirt, navy tie, and brown loafers. “Why did you want to do my makeup tonight, sir?”

“Do you own silver eyeliner?” he asked, and she shook her head. “I did not think so, but it’s what I desire, so I surmised that I could do it myself and make everyone happy.”

“Everyone?” 

Gabriel didn’t answer her echo. Instead, he used a featherlight touch to guide her eyelids closed and got to work.

She felt him apply what she assumed was the aforementioned silver eyeliner, as well as mascara, blush, and liquid lipstick. When he left her face alone for a moment, she opened her eyes, but he placed a hand between her eyes and the mirror before she could see herself.

“Not yet,” he said firmly, leaving no room for argument. “The effect is not complete.”

With Nathalie’s eyes still closed, Gabriel took a brush to her hair and made sure there were no tangles, before styling it in what was probably a half-up, half-down style. From what she could tell, there was some sort of comb or clip in the back for decoration. It wasn’t very heavy, but its weight was present. 

Finally, his hands left her hair, and she heard him take a step back. “Stand up, with your eyes still closed,” he ordered, and she did so. 

He hummed appreciatively. “I quite like the way this look turned out. Thank you, Nathalie. You may open your eyes.”

She did so slowly, and then saw herself in the mirror.

She didn’t say anything at first, taking her time to observe every little detail. The silver eyeliner Gabriel had specifically desired had flecks of glitter in it, subtle when she was standing still but eye-catching when she turned any which way. The same was true of her pale pink blush and the gloss on her lips, which was mostly transparent with a hint of pink and some sparkle as well. Her hair, as she had suspected, was half-and-half, with a white, flowery comb in it for flair. All in all, she could honestly say this was one of her favorite styles of the trip.

She looked … angelic, almost. And maybe, sort of, like a bride.

Those last two thoughts were unnecessary, and Nathalie shook them gently from her head. She turned instead to Gabriel, who was watching her carefully. “What do you think?” he asked.

She answered his question with one of her own. “Where were you all day today?”

The question caught him off-guard. “That’s not--”

“I know it’s not what you asked,” she interrupted, and there was a voice in the back of her head screaming at her to slow down and not overstep her bounds, but she ignored it. “But I need to know. Adrien said you didn’t talk to him at all today until you snapped at him during our lunch. He was  _ upset _ , sir. Your son missed you.”

Gabriel sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest in what looked like a defensive manner. “I promise, I will tell you later,” he said finally. “But we don’t have time for that now.”

“I beg to differ,” she said more quietly, “But I will respect your decision, sir.”

“Thank you.” 

The atmosphere in the room was oppressive. Gabriel rummaged through one of his many bags before producing a silver and navy bracelet for one of her wrists and a navy handbag that was large enough to hold her tablet, which she appreciated. “Here,” he said in a clipped voice, “Take these.” 

She did, grateful for something to do and somewhere to look. But the two new accessories only served as a distraction for a second or two, and then they were back to standing awkwardly in silence.

Nathalie glanced at the clock. “Is Adrien ready? We’ll need to go soon.”

“He’s in the bathroom getting dressed right now,” Gabriel confirmed. “He’ll be ready.”

“Oh,” she said quietly. “That’s good.”

As if on cue, Adrien stepped out into the room with them. “Hello Father. Nathalie, you look very nice again.”  _ What a polite boy he is _ , she thought idly.  _ Other teenagers his age certainly don’t act like that, complimenting the staff and middle-aged women _ . Of course, she wasn’t actually middle-aged, but didn’t teenagers get a kick out of calling people old? Nathalie was pretty sure that was a thing. 

Adrien’s suit was navy and tie a shimmery silver. This was just another instance of the three of them acting the part of a model family.

Heh.  _ Model family _ . Nathalie giggled.

Two pairs of Agreste eyes landed on her. “What’s funny, Nathalie?” Adrien asked. 

She shook her head. “Nothing. Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “Are we ready to go?”

They were, and so they did. Gabriel led the way to their private table at the Vista Deck. As its name might have suggested, they had a beautiful view to accompany their dining. The sun was setting, and the ocean was bathed in the sky’s orange glow. The sea breeze was only slightly too cool as it cut the warm air. 

Nathalie was sure that their dinner was lovely, but she really wasn’t paying any attention to the food and wine. Both the Agrestes noticed that she was quieter than usual, but when they asked, she played it off like she was simply exhausted from their trip thus far. That wasn’t even much of a lie; truth be told she wasn’t much of a traveler, and as wonderful as this vacation had been, she was ready to be back in Paris. Paris meant a language she was more comfortable using, meant clothes she was more comfortable wearing, meant boundaries she was much more comfortable respecting. Hawaii was too carefree a place for a person as tightly wound as she.

As they finished eating, Gabriel turned to address his son. “Adrien, would you mind heading back to the room by yourself? Nathalie and I have something to discuss. We’ll join you after.”

Adrien nodded and excused himself. Gabriel turned his attention back to Nathalie, and she suddenly felt very small. “I believe I owe you an explanation,” he began. She nodded once. He continued. “I spent today doing some … self-reflection. I realized last night that some things I have held to be true for so long are perhaps not as true as I believed. In short, I …” he trailed off with a sigh. “Nathalie, I like you. More than I should.”

“Oh,” she said, so quietly it could have been a breath instead of a word.

“Oh,” he echoed wryly. “But it’s more complicated than that, unfortunately, as I’m sure you’re well aware.” She nodded again. “And that is why I was in such a foul mood earlier today, because I’ve come face-to-face with two equally important yet mutually exclusive truths. I know that I like you a lot, but I also know that Adrien needs his mother.”

“More importantly,” Nathalie found herself interjecting, “Don’t you think Adrien needs his father?”

Gabriel shook his head. “No, it’s Emilie who made him happy for so long. You remember, Nathalie. You remember how she was, and how I was. I haven’t changed a bit, really. I’ve never known how to interact with my son. I don’t know how to love him like he deserves. That’s why I’m trying so hard to bring Emilie back.”

Did that mean …? “So you’re not bringing Emilie back because you miss her personally,” she ventured.

“That is part of it. But I can move on with time, I think. Not entirely, of course. I still miss her terribly. But I can live, I believe, with the knowledge that she’s gone. But Adrien?” He paused, tearing his gaze away from her to look out over the open waters. “I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t take his mother from him and never tell him why. That would be cruel.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, sir,” she said slowly, “But you’re wrong.”

Gabriel turned back to her. “I beg your pardon?”

She took a deep breath. “I promised to help you achieve your goal, sir. But Adrien hasn’t. He doesn’t know what you’re doing, he just knows that his mother mysteriously disappeared one day and his father won’t talk to him and every good thing in his life is in jeopardy based on him acting like a normal teenager. You’re doing all this for his sake, right? Is it worth it, to make him so utterly miserable while you wait? You’re so blinded by what you lack that you’re throwing away what you have!”

After her impromptu rant she cast her gaze down at her empty plate, fighting to get herself under control once more. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. How could she say all that? That was way out of line.

“Nathalie--”

“I have already promised you everything, Gabriel,” she said quietly. “And I have no regrets about doing so. But I do regret my hand in Adrien’s unhappiness.”

To her surprise, she didn’t hear Gabriel raise his voice or lose his temper or coldly dismiss her from her position. Instead, she heard a sound like he was laughing.

She raised her eyes again. “Sir?”

He was. A few tears were streaming from his eyes, but he was definitely laughing. She watched in confusion as he dabbed at his eyes with a clean napkin and took a long drink of wine. “Excuse me,” he said, voice thick. “This is hardly a proper reaction to such a serious subject matter. I just couldn’t help but think that you’re right. I’ve so blind. Nathalie, when did you become so  _ wise _ ?”

“I don’t honestly think I can accept that label,” she returned, still slightly baffled. “But I suppose it is easier for me to see clearly, since I’m not blinded by grief.”

Gabriel nodded, and smiled. “I don’t thank you nearly enough, do I?”

She smiled back. “Definitely not, but I don’t mind. I don’t do any of this for thanks. I do it because I love your family, Gabriel. You and Adrien are the most important people in my life. I just want you both to be happy.”

Gabriel cleared his throat. “Well, in that case, would it make  _ you  _ happy if we went over my schedule for the next few weeks and arranged time to be spent with my son?”

Nathalie thought about pinching herself, just to ensure she was actually awake. She decided against it. If this was a dream, she didn’t want to wake up yet. “I believe that would make me  _ and  _ Adrien very happy indeed.”

Gabriel pulled his chair closer to hers, and together they carved out time for father and son to be together, at least thirty minutes a day for the next two weeks. Satisfied, Nathalie placed her tablet back in her purse. “This is going to make him really happy, sir.”

“I’m glad. I just …” Gabriel trailed off again. “I just wish I could give him his mother back as well.”

“You don’t have to stop trying to bring Emilie back,” Nathalie said, ignoring the way her heart twinged as she spoke. “Just stop shoving him away. Otherwise, by the time you achieve your goal, he might be too far away to be reached.”

Gabriel nodded. “That sounds perfectly reasonable to me. And anyways, who am I kidding? Adrien basically has another mother already.” Nathalie must have looked as confused as she felt, because he continued, “It’s you, Nathalie. You basically raised him, even when Emilie was still with us. You’ve always been around, always been there for him. He loves you and trusts you about as much as he did her. I know it might be a little insulting for me to insinuate you’re old enough to have a teenage son, but that’s honestly how he feels about you. I’ve realized that.”

He took another sip of wine and cracked a small smile. “I’m starting to realize that I feel like that, too.” His smile fell. “But I can’t move on yet. I need just a little more time. We made a promise, and I’m not quite ready to break that. We were  _ married _ , after all, and it’s only been two years since she fell asleep. It’s too soon to just forget her.”

Nathalie placed a comforting hand on top of Gabriel’s own. “You don’t have to. Just don’t forget him.”

He turned to look at her, and she felt the breath knocked out of her as their eyes met. 

“Can I kiss you, Nathalie?” he whispered, and she felt herself nodding. 

Their second kiss was a lot like their first: quick, chaste, and humble. And perfect.

“Can I kiss you again?” he asked when it was over. 

Nathalie hesitated, and ultimately did something that her self from before this vacation would have kicked her for. 

She shook her head no. “Not right now. I like you a lot, Gabriel. More than I should. But if we’re going to be bringing Emilie back, I feel like we should take this more slowly.” She sighed. “Am I making any sense? I feel like what I’m saying is nonsense.”

“You have always made too much sense,” Gabriel countered. “Everything you say and do is so logical, so pragmatic. I appreciate it, even though sometimes I wish you could be more chaotic like me.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “Chaotic?”

He quirked one back. “Would you not say that describes me accurately?”

“I would,” she conceded. “I just didn’t expect you to admit it so readily.”

“I told you, I spent a great deal of time in self-reflection today. I realized many things, and one of those things is that my lifestyle is not what many would call ordered or regular. But that’s besides the point. You  _ do  _ make sense when you say we should take things slow, Nathalie. I agree entirely. I have been moving on at what might be called a snail’s pace, so I think it’s only appropriate to enter a new relationship slowly as well. That is, if that’s what you want.”

She squeezed his hand. “It is. More than anything.”

The sun was completely set. In the pitch-black sky, there were hundreds of thousands of stars. The moon was shining brightly on their walk back to the hotel room, and if they were holding hands the whole way, no one mentioned it. 

When they entered Gabriel and Adrien’s room, Nathalie surprised all three of them by wrapping Adrien up in a tight hug as they said goodnight. Then, she crossed over into her room, slipped into her most comfortable pajamas, and set an alarm for an hour that should be illegal. Their flight home was tomorrow, and while she was excited for their return, she was not excited for their departure. 

She thought, as she was preparing for bed, that the alarm might be superfluous. It wasn’t like she would be able to sleep anyways.

Thankfully, she was wrong. She slept peacefully through the night, and if anyone had seen her, they would have noticed she was smiling.


	10. Chapter 10

It was fitting that, in order to return to normalcy and leave the vacation fantasyland behind, the Agreste family had to get up early. All three of them were accustomed to that, even if they’d rather sleep in. Nathalie, Gabriel, and Adrien got up, showered, dressed, packed, and fed, and then took a cab to the airport. From there, they got on their plane back to France. Gabriel was asleep instantly, and it was then that Nathalie let herself finally relax.

She had finally gotten comfortable when Adrien, who was in the seat in front of her, turned around to face her. “Hey, Nathalie? Remember that you said you’d tell me what made you smile so much that first day?”

“I’m afraid I don’t recall what you mean, Adrien,” she said apologetically. “I’m still a little sleepy. My brain isn’t fully awake yet.”

“When we were making the sandcastle, and I took a picture of us,” he prompted. “I said I’d never seen you smile like that, and you said you’d tell me what you were thinking about when we were back in Paris. I know we’re not there yet, but could you tell me now?”

She gave him a small smile. “I was thinking about you, actually. When you, your father, your mother, and myself went to the beach the last time. I know you don’t remember it much, but I do, and I cherish that memory greatly. Specifically, I was thinking about how you were too tired to walk at the end of the day, and I had to carry you back to the car. You fell asleep on the ride home.”

“Wow,” he replied softly. “I’m the one who made you smile like that? Love you too, Nathalie.”

Nathalie felt her cheeks heat up. Adrien twisted back around to face forward on the plane.  She put on her headphones to block out the distracting chatter, and got to work.

* * *

Finally, they were back at the mansion. Adrien took his bags and darted upstairs to his room immediately. Gabriel was about to follow him when he stopped halfway up the stairs. “I feel a strong negative emotion,” he said, with a tinge of guilt in his voice. “Should I …?”

Nathalie checked the clock in the entryway. “You have an hour until your dinner with Adrien, sir. If you think you can get the job done in that amount of time, I won’t stop you. Just don’t be late.” She paused, and then added, “Do you need my help?”

“No, I think you should get some rest while I do this,” he said. “And I won’t forget. I promised to put my family first, and I meant it.” He smiled, and disappeared up the stairs in the direction of his office. 

Nathalie decided to head to Adrien’s room and help him unpack. He received her with a grateful smile, and they went through the task together, folding and hanging and sorting clothing and accessories. They were about halfway done when Adrien broke their easy silence with a yawn. “I think I need a nap before dinner, Nathalie. Is that okay?”

“I’ll set an alarm for thirty minutes, so you won’t be late,” she agreed. 

“You can lay down too, if you want,” he offered, already prone on the bed. “You need rest, too.”

“I shouldn’t,” she said gently, but Adrien appeared to already be asleep. 

Well, he didn’t hear her refuse. And he did look very comfortable.

Nathalie set the aforementioned alarm and settled down beside Adrien on the bed. She didn’t intend to fall asleep, instead wanting only to rest her eyes for a moment. They were so heavy, and she was rather tired …

* * *

When the alarm went off, Adrien got up and turned it off. It looked like Nathalie had fallen asleep after all, he observed.  _ Well, good for her. I won’t wake her.  _

He smoothed his clothing out and went down for dinner. Gabriel was already seated at his place, which was surprising. “Hello, son,” he said, more warmly than usual. “Come sit. Where is Nathalie?”

“She’s asleep,” he replied, taking his seat.

Gabriel smiled. “Good. Well, I’d like to have dinner with you tonight, if that’s alright with you?”

Adrien couldn’t help but smile. “I would never say no to an offer like that, Father. What are we eating tonight?”

* * *

Nathalie awoke from her nap with a jolt. “What time is it?” she fretted to herself. “I’m missing dinner! I hope it’s going well for them."

As if on cue, laughter erupted from downstairs.

She smiled. “I think they’re fine.” With that, she closed her eyes again.

_ the end _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me and request fluff bingo squares on [Tumblr!](http://www.skeletoncloset.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me all this time! This was my first attempt at a multichapter story in a long time. I definitely could have done some things better, but I'm quite happy with how this story turned out. Thank you all for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [Tumblr!](http://www.skeletoncloset.tumblr.com)


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